It had been just under an hour or so since Alma and Jamie left when Josef received more esteemed guests. Most of them were travelling families - passing through for a quick breakfast before heading out on the road again to wherever they were driving towards. Sometimes they would need navigational help, and he would assist as much as he could. Most days generally weren't as busy as today, so perhaps that was what made today so special to him. He liked socialising with the kinder sorts of people.
What he served his customers was not junk food, no; everything he served had been grown inside a petri-dish. The topic was no longer debated; it had been ruled during the 2050s that test-tube meat would be mainstream, and so it was. That ruling significantly contributed to the decrease in global warming and prevented any more slaughterhouses from going into business. With limitless food also came other benefits, like less fat and more proteins.
When everyone had left, Joe began cleaning up after the ones with less-than-satisfactory table manners.
The door opened as two men walked in. He welcomed them in the most British accent he could muster, "Allo allo allo my dear guests! What can I do you two fine gentlemen for, eh?"
What do you think she's thinking?
I have no idea, Newblood.
Do you think she thinks they're coming after her?
I don't know.
Should you ask?
She looks kind of mad, don't you think?
We haven't had a word from her in over an hour. Better now than never.
"Aside from the obvious... is something wrong, Jamie?"
Jamie turned her head towards her, and then returned it to the front, "Nope, nothing at all.""Are you sure?" Alma pressed, "Because you seem awfully tense.""Oh I'm sure, Alma," she assured, "it's not like I've been unwillingly forced into this or anything. Certainly not like me or my sister's or my family's lives are at risk or anything!"
The sarcasm is strong with this one.
Of course, that's a bit obvious, isn't it?"What's taking so long, Alma, Newblood got your tongue?""Please, Jamie, I'd prefer it if you didn't remind me I don't have-""Skin," Jamie interrupted, "yeah, you've told me before. Now can we please stop talking so I can focus on driving to this place before any Feds show up?""Hello, er..." said one of the men, "Joe, I presume?""I am the only one here, aren't I?" Josef confidently replied.
"Okay..." said the other man, "Could I please get... one... of your... Well I guess it'd be the usual. I'll have a regular cheeseburger meal please. And what will you be getting, Josh?""Oh... er... same as him I think.""So it's the usual for both of you? Okay, is there anything else I can do for you?""Actually, yes there is," Josh replied, "We'd like to take a look at your security footage of last night.""I beg your pardon?" Joe perplexedly asked.
The two men pulled out badges from their jacket pockets, "I'm Special Agent Malcolm Reynolds," Malcolm stated, "and this is my partner, Special Agent Joshua Ross. We're on the hunt for two fugitives and the most recent G.P.S ping says they stopped here. We understand you have a personally funded C.T.O.S and we'd like to check your feed of yesterday and last night."
Josef's insides were having a war amongst themselves at the thought that he knew the two fugitives Malcolm was talking about. It was fairly obvious that Alma's story far exceeded just searching for answers; even though she didn't have skin her body language said a lot. But to go all the way to the federal level? Was that her doing or Simon's? And what about Jamie? She seemed reasonable and calm enough, so perhaps she wasn't in on anything. Frick, what was all this about?
"Joe?" asked Joshua, waving his hand in front of his face "Joe, do you know something?"
Josef blinked hard as if he'd snapped out of a trance, "No, no I... I don't know anything; there've been lots of people through here within the last hour or so.""Can we please take a look at the feed though?" Joshua questioned again.
"What if I were to say no?""Then we'd regrettably have to take the video without consent."
Ross was right. Ever since Jonathon came to office, full cooperation with any federal officer was mandatory, punishable by arrest in certain cases.
"So, in other words, I really have no choice.""Yes," Malcolm stated, "if you prefer things bluntly.""I'm sorry, Jamie.""I know you are, you've been saying it every minute for the past hour!""That's because I am. And that's because saying it sixty times over isn't enough."
You know she isn't going to accept any apology anytime soon, don't you?
"Better now than never, better something than nothing, "Alma continued.
"And who was that to? Me or Newblood, eh?""Both, actually.""That SUV's been following us."
Alma partially stood up and moved her head to look out the rear window. There was a black four-wheel drive proceeding along the same road with two people in the front seats. The licence plate was normal, the windows were untinted, and it wasn't gaining speed nor was it losing any.
"Your just being paranoid," Alma replied as she brought herself back down to the seat.
"I think I have a right to be in any case considering the situation, don't you think?""Yeah, yeah, I get it, Jamie, you're mad.""Damn right I'm mad," Jamie asserted, "So what, you thought not telling me any of this was okay?""I know, I know, it was a stupid thing to do.""For all I know I could now be America's most wanted! Next to murderers and kidnappers and all other people who actually did something rather than be unwillingly forced into it!""I get it, Jamie.""And I don't think you do.""Well I do.""I don't think so. Did Simon train you to be this way or was it your own-""Do not insult Simon," Alma threatened through slit eyes, "From what you've told me, I know him much better than you, so don't go throwing assumptions everywhere," Alma could see Jamie was looking at her through the rear-view mirror, "It was my fault, mine, my own. I was stupid and greedy, okay? I don't want to be like that anymore. I'm not like that anymore."
Joe handed over the CD to the two men, who took it with thanks and then left for their car parked outside. They actually looked more like the stereotypical polar opposite comedy couple now that Josef thought about it: Joshua was tall while Malcolm was medium-sized, and Josh had blonde hair while Mal had black. Silently, as the windows of the diner held back most of the outside noise, the car started and began to drive off eastward along the road. Josef hoped they'd be gone for good and he wouldn't have to see them again, but that hope was far fetched - far from reality.
He knew they would be back for him.
The CD he gave the two wasn't the correct disk. No disk he had was the correct disk because he didn't set his cameras to record the previous night. He gave them the record of the last time he had the cameras on, which was a year ago, give or take a few months. They would quickly realise the time difference and head back, and he wouldn't be in the diner anymore. In fact, he would be long gone and untraceable, and he was ensuring that right now by smashing the sim card of his phone and tossing the remains in the bin including the case and battery. Josef had to leave because they would arrest him otherwise, and they would arrest him because he didn't have his C.T.O.S on all the time.
It was required by law that any personally maintained security system was to be on all the time to ‘ensure the safety of the user' and to allow anything to be taken as evidence in a criminal case. If anyone was caught without the system activated, it was jail time immediately.
He had neither the time nor the space in his car to take everything he owned. Joe only had enough time to pack himself, some clothes, a few tins of non-perishable food, and a fake ID he'd been preparing for a special occasion. He stuffed hastily all the necessities into a small case and made his way to the garage in the rear of the shop where he threw it in the trunk of his sedan. It was key-ignited of course, none of that fancy fingerprint scanning on this old beauty. Joe hated any sort of security or surveillance; he trusted people over contraptions.
Then what was Alma? Well... she was something different.
As he stepped back into the space of the main room, he began saying his final goodbyes to the place that had been his home, business, and passion for just under nine years. The memories. So many memories. And if Nostalgia were a god then it favoured him greatly, for one of his favourite songs started to play on the speakers. As he started walking out, the voice of the legendary Freddie Mercury rang off the walls of the diner, singing merrily with his band. It made him smile a little, like this was the last hurrah from the building to him. And as he was about to step out to the garage, the lyrics hung in his ears;
I sit alone and watch your lightMy only friend through teenage nightAnd everything I had to knowI heard it on my radio
Only friend...? Was the diner talking to him or was he just being crazy? After a short pause, he decided it was the latter. Best to scramble off before he went that way anymore.
You gave them all, those old-time starsThrough wars of worlds - invaded by MarsYou made them laugh, you made them cryYou made us feel like we could fly
Now that Josef started, he couldn't stop listening to the song, and hearing all those small little passages.
So don't become some background noiseA backdrop for the girls and boysWho just don't know or just don't careAnd just complain when you're not there
Some background noise... He was soon going to become a voice and a face never to be seen or heard from again under the same alias. To live a new life of secrecy and paranoia; to start a new, more difficult life.
You had the timeYou had the powerYou've yet to haveYour finest hour!Radio
Time. Power. A finest hour... Josef's mind was made up. He quietly closed the door and headed back for the main room and drew all the blinds and switched off all the lights. He went behind the counter and picked out the MP443 and a bottle of Rakia, sat at one of the diner's tables and pointed his gun at one of the two entrances. Every bone and nerve and muscle and every ounce of common sense told him that what he was planning to do was suicide, but probably that was the point. Suicide would be the only way of being free here; that way he didn't have to worry about security cameras or any other agents on his back or any other form of surveillance the government employed. If he chose to leave with the car, he'd only be delaying the inevitable; he would be caught eventually, and there was no chance of leaving the country with a fake ID alone. Didn't have enough money anyway. And how would he get any with a fake ID? Most people would turn in a guy like him immediately. Money money money money money... Irrelevant little bastards they were, those coins in his pockets, and the cash register, and the small can under his bed.
Through the din of the music he could hear the vehicle park outside. Josef tensed his arm and half-closed one eye as he looked down the sights with the other. He took a quick swig from the bottle, and felt for a second the most free had had ever felt in a long, long time.
The door opened.
"I wonder how Josef's doing..." Alma pondered aloud.
Joe recognised the jacket sleeve to be Malcolm's and fired three times. Malcolm let out a yelp of pain like the federal dog he was and quickly ducked outside again. Joshua came around from the kitchen entrance only to be suppressed by two more bullets. Malcolm seized the opportunity of distraction and quickly popped off a few in Josef's general direction, one of which hit his leg. He yelled out in agony and emptied the clip at Malcolm. As soon as the sound of an ejected magazine hitting the floor was heard, Joshua whipped around from cover and shot who knew how many bullets - the second hit Josef's head.
"I'm sure he's fine," Jamie replied confidently.
"Get the bloody light on," Malcolm instructed angrily.
Joshua hit the switch near his entry point and the white lights flickered to life to reveal the result of most of the shootouts he'd ever had; the suspect dead. "You okay, Mal?" he asked.
"The little fuck nearly took my fucking arm off," Malcolm bitterly returned, "You think I'm okay?""Don't bitch about it, we can easily heal it back up in the van."
Joshua approached Josef's body like a knight that slew a dragon, with his partner holding his arm and keeping pace beside him. "We need to cover this place up," Malcolm stated, "This never happened.""Why would that be?""Because, if someone walks through that doorway and finds this guy lying here they're going to spread the word, and you know what happened last time with that reporter asking about C.T.O.S. It's all just going to be one huge pile of bullshit everyone's going to have to clean up.""So what's your idea?""We blow this place."
Joshua stared at his partner, "You don't seriously mean explosives and shit?""No, no, something more... natural, per say," he said with a sly look, "This place has a personally generated C.T.O.S, right? We hit two birds with one stone. Blow this place using the gas and blame it on the C.T.O.S. Get rid of all evidence, make it look natural, and discourage anyone else using the same hardware.""Sounds good enough."
Mal began to move off towards the kitchen section and Joshua took one last look on his victim, who was about to become a charred corpse. Oddly enough, his hand was twitching rapidly.
"Mal!" he yelled back to his partner, "I think the guy's still alive.""Is he breathing?"
Joshua checked pulse and mouth. Nothing.
"I'll just get him once more in the chest, shall I?""NO!" Reynolds blurted out before he headed into the kitchen.
"Why not?""Civilian fire-fighters. They find too much metal on the body they could start rumours too.""Okay, okay, sheesh. I was only going to make sure."
Joshua's phone buzzed in his pocket and he took it out. It was a new text message; a GPS update on the whereabouts of Jamie Atkins's car. "Mal, you getting this?""Yeah, loud and clear," he shouted from the kitchen, "and the gas is on. Just got to wait a bit for it to spread then I'll shove some pots in the microwave.""You truly are a sick bastard aren't you?""Is it sick to enjoy my job, and what's needed to be done?""I guess, maybe, probably.""What station's that music on?""I don't think it's a station, Mal, stations don't play that music anymore.""Then grab the CD wherever it is, we can play it in the car. Besides, if the rest of the songs are crap I'm sure it'd fetch a hefty price somewhere.""Is everything ready yet?""Yeah, I can smell the gas now, this'll only take a sec, go to the car if you want.""I'll keep the engine warm; Jamie isn't too far head of us.""Okay, that SUV is definitely following us."
Alma simulated a sigh, "You're just paranoid, Jamie.""Oh yeah? That car's had at least five chances to overtake us or turn off to another road, and it hasn't. How else do you explain it? It's the feds. I know it!""And what do you expect to do about it if they are, hey?" Alma queried.
"Outrun them.""And then do what? They can still track the car via the GPS. Nowhere's safe with this car. Nothing keyless is safe."
Jamie was quiet, but Alma noted she kept shifting her eyes upwards to the rear-view mirror to check if the vehicle was still there. It was. Jamie's skittishness was beginning to rub off on her, and Alma realised that she was looking behind more frequently.
They'd made it all the way from the desert to the wooded areas near Bitterroot National Park. There were now sharp bends and deep ditches lining the road.
"Look, Jamie," Alma said, "if you want to make sure they're not following, turn left or right four times."
Jamie laughed half-heartedly, "And where the hell am I supposed to find a road like that anywhere along here?""I don't know, it was just a suggestion."
The car lurched as it started to turn around a right bend in the road. Alma slid along the seat as her nails failed to grab the cushioning. She really should have taken Jamie's advice and string her head through one of the seatbelts.
"How about for now, you just keep your suggestions to your-""Lockdown Initiated: Remote Access Granted" the car announced via the speakers and radio, interrupting Jamie mid-sentence.
"What?" Jamie whispered to herself.
Suddenly the entire car jerked to the left and sped up, "What are you doing Jamie?!" Alma shouted quickly.
"I didn't do, oh shit no."
There was a sense of weightlessness. Alma found out the reason by hastily shifting her eyes between the windows of the Ute; they'd left the road and were hurtling towards the bottom of a deep ditch. And Alma had no seatbelt. Took no genius to work out how that was going to end. The dread of collision was building up inside her, not to mention momentum. Then the car met earth, the nose hitting with such force all windows broke. And Alma, already being mid-air, shot through the windscreen and slammed into the forest floor. Her vision disorientated, she could only just make out the Ute coming to a rest on its roof a few metres away. Her eyes became less clouded and she saw Jamie still in the driver's seat, dangling upside down and held in by seatbelt, donning a large, bleeding mark on her forehead. Alma had never seen blood before. She didn't like the look of it now that she saw it. The front of the car had crumpled in like paper, with engine parts sticking out every which way like pikes. So much for a five star safety rating. The airbags didn't even inflate.
We've got to go, Alma.
"But, Jamie!"
Alma heard a car pull up on the road. She couldn't see it because it was so high up, but she heard voices, and M36s locking and loading.
We're not going to have time! We've got to go before they catch us!
"No! I'm not going to leave her behind!"
What if she's dea-"No. Don't you say that word," Alma instructed with such sternness even she was surprised, she kept talking to Newblood as she crawled into the car through the shattered front window, "She can't be. She can't. I haven't said sorry enough. She can't be."
Alma, if you insist on being unproductive, I'm going to have to force a takeover.
"No!" Alma yelled out, mouth filled with seatbelt, "I'm nearly through the strap!"
No time left!
"Of course there's time left!"
They're coming down now!
"What?!" she turned her head. Leaves were toppling down the steep slope. Newblood was right. Time had run out. It was now or never.
Alma chose never, as in she'd never let someone go.
The seatbelt broke and Alma took the weight of Jamie's fall; cushioning her head before it hit the upside down roof. He wound was bleeding slower. Alma wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign; was it a sign she was healing or a sign she'd already... Alma checked her mouth for air. Thankfully the humidity of her breath clouded her eye; Jamie was still alive. Beyond her body was Alma's satchel, completely intact and closed. Alma stretched her head and opened her mouth to pick up the strap. Two firm hands grasped her tail. The relief of finding Jamie to be alive was quickly replaced by fear and emptiness. Alma let out several yelps of terror as she struggled to slip out of the grasp, only to grind her nails into the metal of the upside down roof, and then into the dirt as the hands dragged her further backward. Then she gave up trying, and let them yank her out. One of them kept his knee on her tail, and his opposite hand on her neck. Another blonde-haired man stood over her. She couldn't really pick any details of him out because he was standing directly in the sunlight; he was a silhouette; a shadow; a dark figure. His attitude and language also mirrored Alma's first impressions. "What the fuck are you?" he asked himself gruffly.
Alma cringed; she'd been taught to disapprove of vulgarity, "I am Alma," she proclaimed, though it was hard because the other man was pressing her mouth into the leaf litter, "And who might you be?""This thing can talk?" the one sitting on top of her questioned.
"Well excuse me for having a name, agent. I think you have one too?""So this is the robot, eh?" the blonde asked, "So where do we take it?""Local institute," The man on top said, "Then the government'll pick it up and take it where it needs to go and do what needs to be done.""I have a name, you know?""Shut up, will you?!" he yelled, and shoved her head further into the dirt, "What about the driver, Jamie? Check on her, Josh.""She's dead," Alma said, muffled by the leaf litter, "I checked myself.""I said, shut up! Josh, just look and see.""She's already dead!" Alma bellowed, as she broke free from her captor's hold and leapt to her feet. She almost believed herself for a second; she felt actual rage in her system. It felt so... so wrong. "She's dead, you killed her, just leave her alone and call an ambulance or something.""And how would you know about all this...""Alma.""Alma, how would you know all this?""You think I was brought up by an idiot?"
The man looked at Josh, and he caught his partner's gaze. Josh spoke, "You're talking about Simon, aren't you?"
Alma rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Yes, of course I'm talking about Simon. No one else fathered me."
Josh's partner mouthed to him, ‘Father', and Joshua whispered back, "What the fuck does it think it is?"
Alma was getting angry now, "I think I'm a robot, thankyou very much, Joshua," she could tell he was surprised; he probably thought he was inaudible, "only thing that separates me from the others is that I had a better upbringing than most." The two seemed dumbfounded, as if all the words she just said were in a different language. "Look, if you two are just going to stand around like a bunch of clowns, I think I better be off." Alma turned to move towards the car to retrieve her satchel, and check if Jamie was still breathing.
"You aren't going anywhere," Joshua threatened, aiming his M36 at Alma, "You're coming with us.""Or what, you're going to shoot me?" she laughed, tapping her head with her right index finger, "You can't risk damaging this thing."
Joshua's aim wavered a little, but he didn't take his eye off his target, and the mood in his eyes never changed.
"Are you two heartless?"
Silence.
"You look the type. Job gives it away too. F.B.I, right?"
More silence.
"You have family?"
Josh swallowed.
"There was an... initiation... wasn't there?""Shut up.""To prove how loyal you were... How loyal both of you were...""I said, shut up, Alma.""You murdered them. Didn't you? Parents, brothers, sisters, wives, sons and daughters. All to prove you were a patriot.""I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU STUPID MACHINE!""Newblood tells me all this... You two... You are sick, sick people.""Do you want to me to put a bullet in your head?""Do you want to destroy the one thing the government's been searching for for two years?""Don't tempt me.""Ross," exclaimed the other man, "You're not serious are you?""Shut up, Malcolm.""But... you're serious... Josh, don't, you can't let it get on your nerves. We just take it back and the government handles it all."
Joshua looked up into the distance blank-faced for a second or two. Then he quickly twisted his arm to his left and fired one, two, three times into Malcolm's chest. Without aiming. Alma watched the body fall with the emotions of shock and horror swimming around in her invisible stomach. Joshua turned his head back to her with a sickeningly fiendish grin. From bared teeth, he said, "You know what, I just don't care anymore," then he shouted to the sky, "You hear that John? I JUST DON'T CARE!""You ki... you ki... You... killed... him." Alma said, wide-eyed with disbelief.
"Something wrong, little one?" Joshua asked, still with the same insane smile on his face, "You can't handle the reality of life? People die, that's a fact. Malcolm's dead. Jamie's dead. I'm now a walking corpse. Simon's dead too, and you know that. Death's little more than an inconvenience now; we're all dead men walking. So how about I do us both a favour and end our suffering right here and now? No worries, no taxes, no nothing. Just pitch black for all eternity. So how about that, eh?""You're insane!""The world's insane, so no one's going to argue. So how about it, little one? Yay or nay? HOW ABOUT IT, SPIRITS OF THE WOOD?! WHAT, SAY, YEE?!"
Alma was silent with terror, her jaw shaking uncontrollably, as with every other joint in her body.
Joshua looked at his left hand which held the gun, and like an epiphany struck him, he said, "Oh, that's right, I'm the one with the gun. That means I'm the one who decides this. Judge, jury, executioner. See you on the other side, Alma. Oh, that's right, there's no heaven for robots. Guess you're just going to be stuck in limbo. Oh well," he straightened his arm to have the barrel pointed directly at Alma's head, and finally said with a grin, "Goodbye."
A gun fired. It wasn't Joshua's; Alma could see it wasn't because her eyes were still open. The bullet of said gun hit Joshua's right shoulder. It wasn't pain that flooded his eyes, it was surprise, and he didn't make a single sound upon being shot. He blinked hard, staggered around a few steps, and stayed standing, staring at his wound. Alma took the opportunity and made a dash for behind the car. Ross's gun followed her every step once he realised she was moving. Another gunshot was quickly followed by a thud as the bullet embedded itself into Joshua's ribcage. The agent refused to make a noise of pain or anything else, not even a grunt. He raised his arm again and fired a few times in Alma's direction, and she screamed in fear as she ducked down further. There was yet another gunshot, and yet another thud, she heard him kneel on the leafy floor, and fire yet another volley of bullets hitting the car, and yet another gunshot. But that final gunshot came from Joshua's pistol. Alma peeked her head around the corner of the upturned car to see Joshua's body lying on the ground. Dead. Despite him being a baddie, the sight filled her with disgusted fear, not that she could be any more fear-filled.
Another hand grabbed her shoulder. Alma squealed and snarled at the same time. It was a man, with the company of two more behind him. They were all dressed in beige cloaks and black facemasks, and they had somehow moved from wherever they were to right behind her without a sound. As silent as silence. They all carried guns of their own; hunting rifles; M24s; hadn't been restored in a while. The one she pulled away from spoke, "Are you Alma?"
Alma just stayed still, gobsmacked by how he knew not to mention everything else that had transpired within the last five minutes.
"Are you Alma?" the same man repeated himself.
She nodded vigorously.
"You're to come with us back to your friend, Ethan," he announced.
"Ethan," she exclaimed, "You know him?""He's the one paying us to bring you to him, now come on.""But... What about Jamie?" she questioned, pointing to the driver's compartment with her head, "She might die without help."
The man turned around to the other two and began discussing.
"Wha... You can't actually be consideringleaving her here?"
Another, a woman, raised her head and spoke, "We weren't paid to carry two."
Alma's mouth dropped in awe, "You... you people... you're just as bad as the agent you shot!" she had their full attention; they whipped their head towards her, "Only difference between you and them is where they killed their families to prove they were patriots, you disregard life for the sake of a few pointless green pieces of paper!" Alma realised she was echoing the words of Simon in that last sentence.
"Alma," the man who talked to her first started, "we're not supposed to hurt you, but do not, I repeat, DO NOT put us in the same league as them," he spat, "We're being paid because we're going out of our way to do this little errand."
Wait... I know these people.
Gah, not now, Newblood.
No no, you need to hear this...
"Hello, Alma?" the man was snapping his fingers in front of her eyes.
"You're the A.P.R, aren't you? The American People's Resistance.""Yes," he replied, though his face remained hidden behind a mask, "but for the moment I don't think it should matter who we are. Phantom, Visage, get Jamie out of there."
The other woman and man followed the first one's instructions. Alma felt gratitude and relief flow through her body, "Thankyou, thankyou so much... Mister...""Spectre.""Oh... yeah, that's right, you only ever use codenames.""Now if you have anything you need to salvage before we go, you'd best get it now."
Alma nodded hastily and darted back to the wreck for her satchel. She sew her head through the strap and pulled out just as ‘Phantom' and ‘Visage', man and woman respectively, finished pulling an unconscious Jamie Atkins from the car. The injury to her head had stopped bleeding and had become a viscous scab, though the streams of blood covered the sides of her head. Knowing she was the cause, Alma felt guilty upon seeing Jamie being recovered like some limp ragdoll. No excuse could justify her actions; she had willingly put an unwitting civilian in harm's way - a struggle Jamie had no part in, and wouldn't want any part in. Newblood was right. Alma was selfish, and no one had taught her how to be so. It had been just under an hour or so since Alma and Jamie left when Josef received more esteemed guests. Most of them were travelling families - passing through for a quick breakfast before heading out on the road again to wherever they were driving towards. Sometimes they would need navigational help, and he would assist as much as he could. Most days generally weren't as busy as today, so perhaps that was what made today so special to him. He liked socialising with the kinder sorts of people.
What he served his customers was not junk food, no; everything he served had been grown inside a petri-dish. The topic was no longer debated; it had been ruled during the 2050s that test-tube meat would be mainstream, and so it was. That ruling significantly contributed to the decrease in global warming and prevented any more slaughterhouses from going into business. With limitless food also came other benefits, like less fat and more proteins.
When everyone had left, Joe began cleaning up after the ones with less-than-satisfactory table manners.
The door opened as two men walked in. He welcomed them in the most British accent he could muster, "Allo allo allo my dear guests! What can I do you two fine gentlemen for, eh?"
What do you think she's thinking?
I have no idea, Newblood.
Do you think she thinks they're coming after her?
I don't know.
Should you ask?
She looks kind of mad, don't you think?
We haven't had a word from her in over an hour. Better now than never.
"Aside from the obvious... is something wrong, Jamie?"
Jamie turned her head towards her, and then returned it to the front, "Nope, nothing at all.""Are you sure?" Alma pressed, "Because you seem awfully tense.""Oh I'm sure, Alma," she assured, "it's not like I've been unwillingly forced into this or anything. Certainly not like me or my sister's or my family's lives are at risk or anything!"
The sarcasm is strong with this one.
Of course, that's a bit obvious, isn't it?"What's taking so long, Alma, Newblood got your tongue?""Please, Jamie, I'd prefer it if you didn't remind me I don't have-""Skin," Jamie interrupted, "yeah, you've told me before. Now can we please stop talking so I can focus on driving to this place before any Feds show up?""Hello, er..." said one of the men, "Joe, I presume?""I am the only one here, aren't I?" Josef confidently replied.
"Okay..." said the other man, "Could I please get... one... of your... Well I guess it'd be the usual. I'll have a regular cheeseburger meal please. And what will you be getting, Josh?""Oh... er... same as him I think.""So it's the usual for both of you? Okay, is there anything else I can do for you?""Actually, yes there is," Josh replied, "We'd like to take a look at your security footage of last night.""I beg your pardon?" Joe perplexedly asked.
The two men pulled out badges from their jacket pockets, "I'm Special Agent Malcolm Reynolds," Malcolm stated, "and this is my partner, Special Agent Joshua Ross. We're on the hunt for two fugitives and the most recent G.P.S ping says they stopped here. We understand you have a personally funded C.T.O.S and we'd like to check your feed of yesterday and last night."
Josef's insides were having a war amongst themselves at the thought that he knew the two fugitives Malcolm was talking about. It was fairly obvious that Alma's story far exceeded just searching for answers; even though she didn't have skin her body language said a lot. But to go all the way to the federal level? Was that her doing or Simon's? And what about Jamie? She seemed reasonable and calm enough, so perhaps she wasn't in on anything. Frick, what was all this about?
"Joe?" asked Joshua, waving his hand in front of his face "Joe, do you know something?"
Josef blinked hard as if he'd snapped out of a trance, "No, no I... I don't know anything; there've been lots of people through here within the last hour or so.""Can we please take a look at the feed though?" Joshua questioned again.
"What if I were to say no?""Then we'd regrettably have to take the video without consent."
Ross was right. Ever since Jonathon came to office, full cooperation with any federal officer was mandatory, punishable by arrest in certain cases.
"So, in other words, I really have no choice.""Yes," Malcolm stated, "if you prefer things bluntly.""I'm sorry, Jamie.""I know you are, you've been saying it every minute for the past hour!""That's because I am. And that's because saying it sixty times over isn't enough."
You know she isn't going to accept any apology anytime soon, don't you?
"Better now than never, better something than nothing, "Alma continued.
"And who was that to? Me or Newblood, eh?""Both, actually.""That SUV's been following us."
Alma partially stood up and moved her head to look out the rear window. There was a black four-wheel drive proceeding along the same road with two people in the front seats. The licence plate was normal, the windows were untinted, and it wasn't gaining speed nor was it losing any.
"Your just being paranoid," Alma replied as she brought herself back down to the seat.
"I think I have a right to be in any case considering the situation, don't you think?""Yeah, yeah, I get it, Jamie, you're mad.""Damn right I'm mad," Jamie asserted, "So what, you thought not telling me any of this was okay?""I know, I know, it was a stupid thing to do.""For all I know I could now be America's most wanted! Next to murderers and kidnappers and all other people who actually did something rather than be unwillingly forced into it!""I get it, Jamie.""And I don't think you do.""Well I do.""I don't think so. Did Simon train you to be this way or was it your own-""Do not insult Simon," Alma threatened through slit eyes, "From what you've told me, I know him much better than you, so don't go throwing assumptions everywhere," Alma could see Jamie was looking at her through the rear-view mirror, "It was my fault, mine, my own. I was stupid and greedy, okay? I don't want to be like that anymore. I'm not like that anymore."
Joe handed over the CD to the two men, who took it with thanks and then left for their car parked outside. They actually looked more like the stereotypical polar opposite comedy couple now that Josef thought about it: Joshua was tall while Malcolm was medium-sized, and Josh had blonde hair while Mal had black. Silently, as the windows of the diner held back most of the outside noise, the car started and began to drive off eastward along the road. Josef hoped they'd be gone for good and he wouldn't have to see them again, but that hope was far fetched - far from reality.
He knew they would be back for him.
The CD he gave the two wasn't the correct disk. No disk he had was the correct disk because he didn't set his cameras to record the previous night. He gave them the record of the last time he had the cameras on, which was a year ago, give or take a few months. They would quickly realise the time difference and head back, and he wouldn't be in the diner anymore. In fact, he would be long gone and untraceable, and he was ensuring that right now by smashing the sim card of his phone and tossing the remains in the bin including the case and battery. Josef had to leave because they would arrest him otherwise, and they would arrest him because he didn't have his C.T.O.S on all the time.
It was required by law that any personally maintained security system was to be on all the time to ‘ensure the safety of the user' and to allow anything to be taken as evidence in a criminal case. If anyone was caught without the system activated, it was jail time immediately.
He had neither the time nor the space in his car to take everything he owned. Joe only had enough time to pack himself, some clothes, a few tins of non-perishable food, and a fake ID he'd been preparing for a special occasion. He stuffed hastily all the necessities into a small case and made his way to the garage in the rear of the shop where he threw it in the trunk of his sedan. It was key-ignited of course, none of that fancy fingerprint scanning on this old beauty. Joe hated any sort of security or surveillance; he trusted people over contraptions.
Then what was Alma? Well... she was something different.
As he stepped back into the space of the main room, he began saying his final goodbyes to the place that had been his home, business, and passion for just under nine years. The memories. So many memories. And if Nostalgia were a god then it favoured him greatly, for one of his favourite songs started to play on the speakers. As he started walking out, the voice of the legendary Freddie Mercury rang off the walls of the diner, singing merrily with his band. It made him smile a little, like this was the last hurrah from the building to him. And as he was about to step out to the garage, the lyrics hung in his ears;
I sit alone and watch your lightMy only friend through teenage nightAnd everything I had to knowI heard it on my radio
Only friend...? Was the diner talking to him or was he just being crazy? After a short pause, he decided it was the latter. Best to scramble off before he went that way anymore.
You gave them all, those old-time starsThrough wars of worlds - invaded by MarsYou made them laugh, you made them cryYou made us feel like we could fly
Now that Josef started, he couldn't stop listening to the song, and hearing all those small little passages.
So don't become some background noiseA backdrop for the girls and boysWho just don't know or just don't careAnd just complain when you're not there
Some background noise... He was soon going to become a voice and a face never to be seen or heard from again under the same alias. To live a new life of secrecy and paranoia; to start a new, more difficult life.
You had the timeYou had the powerYou've yet to haveYour finest hour!Radio
Time. Power. A finest hour... Josef's mind was made up. He quietly closed the door and headed back for the main room and drew all the blinds and switched off all the lights. He went behind the counter and picked out the MP443 and a bottle of Rakia, sat at one of the diner's tables and pointed his gun at one of the two entrances. Every bone and nerve and muscle and every ounce of common sense told him that what he was planning to do was suicide, but probably that was the point. Suicide would be the only way of being free here; that way he didn't have to worry about security cameras or any other agents on his back or any other form of surveillance the government employed. If he chose to leave with the car, he'd only be delaying the inevitable; he would be caught eventually, and there was no chance of leaving the country with a fake ID alone. Didn't have enough money anyway. And how would he get any with a fake ID? Most people would turn in a guy like him immediately. Money money money money money... Irrelevant little bastards they were, those coins in his pockets, and the cash register, and the small can under his bed.
Through the din of the music he could hear the vehicle park outside. Josef tensed his arm and half-closed one eye as he looked down the sights with the other. He took a quick swig from the bottle, and felt for a second the most free had had ever felt in a long, long time.
The door opened.
"I wonder how Josef's doing..." Alma pondered aloud.
Joe recognised the jacket sleeve to be Malcolm's and fired three times. Malcolm let out a yelp of pain like the federal dog he was and quickly ducked outside again. Joshua came around from the kitchen entrance only to be suppressed by two more bullets. Malcolm seized the opportunity of distraction and quickly popped off a few in Josef's general direction, one of which hit his leg. He yelled out in agony and emptied the clip at Malcolm. As soon as the sound of an ejected magazine hitting the floor was heard, Joshua whipped around from cover and shot who knew how many bullets - the second hit Josef's head.
"I'm sure he's fine," Jamie replied confidently.
"Get the bloody light on," Malcolm instructed angrily.
Joshua hit the switch near his entry point and the white lights flickered to life to reveal the result of most of the shootouts he'd ever had; the suspect dead. "You okay, Mal?" he asked.
"The little fuck nearly took my fucking arm off," Malcolm bitterly returned, "You think I'm okay?""Don't bitch about it, we can easily heal it back up in the van."
Joshua approached Josef's body like a knight that slew a dragon, with his partner holding his arm and keeping pace beside him. "We need to cover this place up," Malcolm stated, "This never happened.""Why would that be?""Because, if someone walks through that doorway and finds this guy lying here they're going to spread the word, and you know what happened last time with that reporter asking about C.T.O.S. It's all just going to be one huge pile of bullshit everyone's going to have to clean up.""So what's your idea?""We blow this place."
Joshua stared at his partner, "You don't seriously mean explosives and shit?""No, no, something more... natural, per say," he said with a sly look, "This place has a personally generated C.T.O.S, right? We hit two birds with one stone. Blow this place using the gas and blame it on the C.T.O.S. Get rid of all evidence, make it look natural, and discourage anyone else using the same hardware.""Sounds good enough."
Mal began to move off towards the kitchen section and Joshua took one last look on his victim, who was about to become a charred corpse. Oddly enough, his hand was twitching rapidly.
"Mal!" he yelled back to his partner, "I think the guy's still alive.""Is he breathing?"
Joshua checked pulse and mouth. Nothing.
"I'll just get him once more in the chest, shall I?""NO!" Reynolds blurted out before he headed into the kitchen.
"Why not?""Civilian fire-fighters. They find too much metal on the body they could start rumours too.""Okay, okay, sheesh. I was only going to make sure."
Joshua's phone buzzed in his pocket and he took it out. It was a new text message; a GPS update on the whereabouts of Jamie Atkins's car. "Mal, you getting this?""Yeah, loud and clear," he shouted from the kitchen, "and the gas is on. Just got to wait a bit for it to spread then I'll shove some pots in the microwave.""You truly are a sick bastard aren't you?""Is it sick to enjoy my job, and what's needed to be done?""I guess, maybe, probably.""What station's that music on?""I don't think it's a station, Mal, stations don't play that music anymore.""Then grab the CD wherever it is, we can play it in the car. Besides, if the rest of the songs are crap I'm sure it'd fetch a hefty price somewhere.""Is everything ready yet?""Yeah, I can smell the gas now, this'll only take a sec, go to the car if you want.""I'll keep the engine warm; Jamie isn't too far head of us.""Okay, that SUV is definitely following us."
Alma simulated a sigh, "You're just paranoid, Jamie.""Oh yeah? That car's had at least five chances to overtake us or turn off to another road, and it hasn't. How else do you explain it? It's the feds. I know it!""And what do you expect to do about it if they are, hey?" Alma queried.
"Outrun them.""And then do what? They can still track the car via the GPS. Nowhere's safe with this car. Nothing keyless is safe."
Jamie was quiet, but Alma noted she kept shifting her eyes upwards to the rear-view mirror to check if the vehicle was still there. It was. Jamie's skittishness was beginning to rub off on her, and Alma realised that she was looking behind more frequently.
They'd made it all the way from the desert to the wooded areas near Bitterroot National Park. There were now sharp bends and deep ditches lining the road.
"Look, Jamie," Alma said, "if you want to make sure they're not following, turn left or right four times."
Jamie laughed half-heartedly, "And where the hell am I supposed to find a road like that anywhere along here?""I don't know, it was just a suggestion."
The car lurched as it started to turn around a right bend in the road. Alma slid along the seat as her nails failed to grab the cushioning. She really should have taken Jamie's advice and string her head through one of the seatbelts.
"How about for now, you just keep your suggestions to your-""Lockdown Initiated: Remote Access Granted" the car announced via the speakers and radio, interrupting Jamie mid-sentence.
"What?" Jamie whispered to herself.
Suddenly the entire car jerked to the left and sped up, "What are you doing Jamie?!" Alma shouted quickly.
"I didn't do, oh shit no."
There was a sense of weightlessness. Alma found out the reason by hastily shifting her eyes between the windows of the Ute; they'd left the road and were hurtling towards the bottom of a deep ditch. And Alma had no seatbelt. Took no genius to work out how that was going to end. The dread of collision was building up inside her, not to mention momentum. Then the car met earth, the nose hitting with such force all windows broke. And Alma, already being mid-air, shot through the windscreen and slammed into the forest floor. Her vision disorientated, she could only just make out the Ute coming to a rest on its roof a few metres away. Her eyes became less clouded and she saw Jamie still in the driver's seat, dangling upside down and held in by seatbelt, donning a large, bleeding mark on her forehead. Alma had never seen blood before. She didn't like the look of it now that she saw it. The front of the car had crumpled in like paper, with engine parts sticking out every which way like pikes. So much for a five star safety rating. The airbags didn't even inflate.
We've got to go, Alma.
"But, Jamie!"
Alma heard a car pull up on the road. She couldn't see it because it was so high up, but she heard voices, and M36s locking and loading.
We're not going to have time! We've got to go before they catch us!
"No! I'm not going to leave her behind!"
What if she's dea-"No. Don't you say that word," Alma instructed with such sternness even she was surprised, she kept talking to Newblood as she crawled into the car through the shattered front window, "She can't be. She can't. I haven't said sorry enough. She can't be."
Alma, if you insist on being unproductive, I'm going to have to force a takeover.
"No!" Alma yelled out, mouth filled with seatbelt, "I'm nearly through the strap!"
No time left!
"Of course there's time left!"
They're coming down now!
"What?!" she turned her head. Leaves were toppling down the steep slope. Newblood was right. Time had run out. It was now or never.
Alma chose never, as in she'd never let someone go.
The seatbelt broke and Alma took the weight of Jamie's fall; cushioning her head before it hit the upside down roof. He wound was bleeding slower. Alma wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign; was it a sign she was healing or a sign she'd already... Alma checked her mouth for air. Thankfully the humidity of her breath clouded her eye; Jamie was still alive. Beyond her body was Alma's satchel, completely intact and closed. Alma stretched her head and opened her mouth to pick up the strap. Two firm hands grasped her tail. The relief of finding Jamie to be alive was quickly replaced by fear and emptiness. Alma let out several yelps of terror as she struggled to slip out of the grasp, only to grind her nails into the metal of the upside down roof, and then into the dirt as the hands dragged her further backward. Then she gave up trying, and let them yank her out. One of them kept his knee on her tail, and his opposite hand on her neck. Another blonde-haired man stood over her. She couldn't really pick any details of him out because he was standing directly in the sunlight; he was a silhouette; a shadow; a dark figure. His attitude and language also mirrored Alma's first impressions. "What the fuck are you?" he asked himself gruffly.
Alma cringed; she'd been taught to disapprove of vulgarity, "I am Alma," she proclaimed, though it was hard because the other man was pressing her mouth into the leaf litter, "And who might you be?""This thing can talk?" the one sitting on top of her questioned.
"Well excuse me for having a name, agent. I think you have one too?""So this is the robot, eh?" the blonde asked, "So where do we take it?""Local institute," The man on top said, "Then the government'll pick it up and take it where it needs to go and do what needs to be done.""I have a name, you know?""Shut up, will you?!" he yelled, and shoved her head further into the dirt, "What about the driver, Jamie? Check on her, Josh.""She's dead," Alma said, muffled by the leaf litter, "I checked myself.""I said, shut up! Josh, just look and see.""She's already dead!" Alma bellowed, as she broke free from her captor's hold and leapt to her feet. She almost believed herself for a second; she felt actual rage in her system. It felt so... so wrong. "She's dead, you killed her, just leave her alone and call an ambulance or something.""And how would you know about all this...""Alma.""Alma, how would you know all this?""You think I was brought up by an idiot?"
The man looked at Josh, and he caught his partner's gaze. Josh spoke, "You're talking about Simon, aren't you?"
Alma rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Yes, of course I'm talking about Simon. No one else fathered me."
Josh's partner mouthed to him, ‘Father', and Joshua whispered back, "What the fuck does it think it is?"
Alma was getting angry now, "I think I'm a robot, thankyou very much, Joshua," she could tell he was surprised; he probably thought he was inaudible, "only thing that separates me from the others is that I had a better upbringing than most." The two seemed dumbfounded, as if all the words she just said were in a different language. "Look, if you two are just going to stand around like a bunch of clowns, I think I better be off." Alma turned to move towards the car to retrieve her satchel, and check if Jamie was still breathing.
"You aren't going anywhere," Joshua threatened, aiming his M36 at Alma, "You're coming with us.""Or what, you're going to shoot me?" she laughed, tapping her head with her right index finger, "You can't risk damaging this thing."
Joshua's aim wavered a little, but he didn't take his eye off his target, and the mood in his eyes never changed.
"Are you two heartless?"
Silence.
"You look the type. Job gives it away too. F.B.I, right?"
More silence.
"You have family?"
Josh swallowed.
"There was an... initiation... wasn't there?""Shut up.""To prove how loyal you were... How loyal both of you were...""I said, shut up, Alma.""You murdered them. Didn't you? Parents, brothers, sisters, wives, sons and daughters. All to prove you were a patriot.""I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU STUPID MACHINE!""Newblood tells me all this... You two... You are sick, sick people.""Do you want to me to put a bullet in your head?""Do you want to destroy the one thing the government's been searching for for two years?""Don't tempt me.""Ross," exclaimed the other man, "You're not serious are you?""Shut up, Malcolm.""But... you're serious... Josh, don't, you can't let it get on your nerves. We just take it back and the government handles it all."
Joshua looked up into the distance blank-faced for a second or two. Then he quickly twisted his arm to his left and fired one, two, three times into Malcolm's chest. Without aiming. Alma watched the body fall with the emotions of shock and horror swimming around in her invisible stomach. Joshua turned his head back to her with a sickeningly fiendish grin. From bared teeth, he said, "You know what, I just don't care anymore," then he shouted to the sky, "You hear that John? I JUST DON'T CARE!""You ki... you ki... You... killed... him." Alma said, wide-eyed with disbelief.
"Something wrong, little one?" Joshua asked, still with the same insane smile on his face, "You can't handle the reality of life? People die, that's a fact. Malcolm's dead. Jamie's dead. I'm now a walking corpse. Simon's dead too, and you know that. Death's little more than an inconvenience now; we're all dead men walking. So how about I do us both a favour and end our suffering right here and now? No worries, no taxes, no nothing. Just pitch black for all eternity. So how about that, eh?""You're insane!""The world's insane, so no one's going to argue. So how about it, little one? Yay or nay? HOW ABOUT IT, SPIRITS OF THE WOOD?! WHAT, SAY, YEE?!"
Alma was silent with terror, her jaw shaking uncontrollably, as with every other joint in her body.
Joshua looked at his left hand which held the gun, and like an epiphany struck him, he said, "Oh, that's right, I'm the one with the gun. That means I'm the one who decides this. Judge, jury, executioner. See you on the other side, Alma. Oh, that's right, there's no heaven for robots. Guess you're just going to be stuck in limbo. Oh well," he straightened his arm to have the barrel pointed directly at Alma's head, and finally said with a grin, "Goodbye."
A gun fired. It wasn't Joshua's; Alma could see it wasn't because her eyes were still open. The bullet of said gun hit Joshua's right shoulder. It wasn't pain that flooded his eyes, it was surprise, and he didn't make a single sound upon being shot. He blinked hard, staggered around a few steps, and stayed standing, staring at his wound. Alma took the opportunity and made a dash for behind the car. Ross's gun followed her every step once he realised she was moving. Another gunshot was quickly followed by a thud as the bullet embedded itself into Joshua's ribcage. The agent refused to make a noise of pain or anything else, not even a grunt. He raised his arm again and fired a few times in Alma's direction, and she screamed in fear as she ducked down further. There was yet another gunshot, and yet another thud, she heard him kneel on the leafy floor, and fire yet another volley of bullets hitting the car, and yet another gunshot. But that final gunshot came from Joshua's pistol. Alma peeked her head around the corner of the upturned car to see Joshua's body lying on the ground. Dead. Despite him being a baddie, the sight filled her with disgusted fear, not that she could be any more fear-filled.
Another hand grabbed her shoulder. Alma squealed and snarled at the same time. It was a man, with the company of two more behind him. They were all dressed in beige cloaks and black facemasks, and they had somehow moved from wherever they were to right behind her without a sound. As silent as silence. They all carried guns of their own; hunting rifles; M24s; hadn't been restored in a while. The one she pulled away from spoke, "Are you Alma?"
Alma just stayed still, gobsmacked by how he knew not to mention everything else that had transpired within the last five minutes.
"Are you Alma?" the same man repeated himself.
She nodded vigorously.
"You're to come with us back to your friend, Ethan," he announced.
"Ethan," she exclaimed, "You know him?""He's the one paying us to bring you to him, now come on.""But... What about Jamie?" she questioned, pointing to the driver's compartment with her head, "She might die without help."
The man turned around to the other two and began discussing.
"Wha... You can't actually be consideringleaving her here?"
Another, a woman, raised her head and spoke, "We weren't paid to carry two."
Alma's mouth dropped in awe, "You... you people... you're just as bad as the agent you shot!" she had their full attention; they whipped their head towards her, "Only difference between you and them is where they killed their families to prove they were patriots, you disregard life for the sake of a few pointless green pieces of paper!" Alma realised she was echoing the words of Simon in that last sentence.
"Alma," the man who talked to her first started, "we're not supposed to hurt you, but do not, I repeat, DO NOT put us in the same league as them," he spat, "We're being paid because we're going out of our way to do this little errand."
Wait... I know these people.
Gah, not now, Newblood.
No no, you need to hear this...
"Hello, Alma?" the man was snapping his fingers in front of her eyes.
"You're the A.P.R, aren't you? The American People's Resistance.""Yes," he replied, though his face remained hidden behind a mask, "but for the moment I don't think it should matter who we are. Phantom, Visage, get Jamie out of there."
The other woman and man followed the first one's instructions. Alma felt gratitude and relief flow through her body, "Thankyou, thankyou so much... Mister...""Spectre.""Oh... yeah, that's right, you only ever use codenames.""Now if you have anything you need to salvage before we go, you'd best get it now."
Alma nodded hastily and darted back to the wreck for her satchel. She sew her head through the strap and pulled out just as ‘Phantom' and ‘Visage', man and woman respectively, finished pulling an unconscious Jamie Atkins from the car. The injury to her head had stopped bleeding and had become a viscous scab, though the streams of blood covered the sides of her head. Knowing she was the cause, Alma felt guilty upon seeing Jamie being recovered like some limp ragdoll. No excuse could justify her actions; she had willingly put an unwitting civilian in harm's way - a struggle Jamie had no part in, and wouldn't want any part in. Newblood was right. Alma was selfish, and no one had taught her how to be so.
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