Cassie stood over her father's coffin, looking down into his face. She felt a disconnect there-she could still feel him, but he was dead.
I must sound insane. She thought, running a hand across his face. It was pale, clearly dead. It was hard to remember that a human mind had once lived inside it.
Until Cassie had set it free. He had been dying-she had ended the pain.
I must sound insane. She thought, running a hand across his face. It was pale, clearly dead. It was hard to remember that a human mind had once lived inside it.
Until Cassie had set it free. He had been dying-she had ended the pain.
Someone entered the room, someone... Strange. Her father had warned her about the men and women who called themselves ‘Tactical’-brutal people who would stop at nothing to gain access to her.
This person, this woman, wasn't Tactical-she lacked any of the signs that her father had told her to watch for.
The woman made a beeline for Cassie, who tried to pretend that she wasn't studying the intruder.
“Cassandra Freeman?” She asked.
“No.” Cassidy replied.
The woman frowned.
“Before you ask, there is no Cassandra Freeman. I do, however, sense that I’m the person you’re looking for.” Cassie said, still looking down to her father's body.
The woman started. “You’re... I was not expecting that, Ms. Freeman.”
Damn. Cassie thought. I need to be more careful around the normal people-they’re not as special as I am.
“I’m Sheila Hazzard, from Mil-Ind. I worked with your father, Ms. Freeman.”
Cassie nodded. “I know.”
The woman nodded. “I understand what it’s like to be a human experiment, Ms. Freeman.”
“My name is Cassie, First Citizen.” She said, addressing Sheila by the title that she gained by relation to her husband, though she apparently didn’t use his name.
Sheila nodded. “I’m sorry, Cassie.” She placed a hand on Cassie’s shoulder, in a gesture that Cassie could tell was calculated.
“No, you’re not.”
That disrupted the other woman’s plan, Cassie could tell.
“You don’t care about me.” Cassie said, pulling herself out of her reverie. “You’re like him. You don’t love me-you want me.” Cassie turned to face Sheila. “You. Can’t. Have. Me.”
Cassie could see fear well up in the woman’s eyes, as well as a general feeling that Cassie was insane.
Which, in all fairness, she probably was.
Regardless, that didn't mean that she had to stay here with the woman. She lashed out, sending Sheila reeling backwards a good five feet.
The woman gasped, trying to stand as the room erupted in commotion. She rolled over onto her side as Cassie bolted for the doorway.
“Tactical, this is Hazzard. The Objective is rogue, repeat, the Objective is rogue!”
Cassie had been on the streets of Bernan for what felt like forever. She had years of experience to draw upon, not all of it her own.
Something hit the ground in front of her, falling too fast to be accounted for by the local gravity. No, not something-someone. He stood, black armor absorbing sunlight. He unslung a rifle, taking aim at her.
Cassie had fractions of a second to react, but, in that peculiar shadow-land between insane and special that she occupied, that was enough.
She saw it unfold in real time, but had perfect knowledge of the situation. The bullet followed a predefined set of rules, as did the Tactical soldier firing it. It took barely any effort to avoid it.
He fired again, and she dodged a second time, though, as they were closer, it was harder. She wanted to disable him hand-to-hand though-she hated using her gifts to kill. She hated having to kill at all, of course, but doing it with her gifts was especially wrong.
The third bullet was airborne, and as she tried to dodge it, she knew that she had screwed up. Horribly.
It made contact with her chest, and she fell backwards, feeling like she had been punched.
Furious, she stood, picking the bullet up off the ground, examining it. It wasn't even a tranq-just a bullet. She felt complimented-they understood who and what they were dealing with. It had been forever since she allowed herself to get shot though, and she didn't intend to allow it to happen again.
“Drop your shield!” The Tactical man barked, voice filtered through his vocoder. “Get back down on the ground and raise your hand above your head!”
She shook her head. “You’ll never learn, will you?” She whispered.
She thrust one hand forward, and sent the man careening backwards into the wall. “You’re useless.” She said, striding towards him. She extended her arm, and his sidearm flew into it.
She pulled the trigger. Part of her screamed out, part of her rejoiced, as the bullet slammed into his helmet. It didn’t do any damage to him, of course, but it did do a rather good job of distracting him until she closed to close quarters.
She knelt by him, and used her gift to deactivate the seals that held his helmet in place. She pulled it off, then slammed his head back into the wall, dazing him.
“Mr. Tyrian.” She said, staring into his eyes. “You’re about to die.”
She could feel his fear. “There’s a sniper at the end of the road, and six men inside the mortuary guarding the First Citizen.” She made him say. “All armed, but not anything that would pose a threat to you.” His voice was flat, lacking any emotion-as it always was at times like this.
“Very good.” She said, and shot him again, this time into his exposed face.
She turned to face the sniper-she could tell exactly where she was, after all.
Hazel. She whispered. I’m harmless. He had his helmet off because he didn't see me, and you shot him. You’re insane, Hazel. You always hated Jonathan Tyrian. I’m harmless, Hazel. Why don’t you go try to do that to the rest of your team?
She withdrew from the snipers mind as she departed, moving across the rooftops to her new objective.
Cassie smiled, adjusting her clothing slightly. She might be on the run, but there was no reason to look sloppy.
She’d steer clear of Tactical-she wasn't stupid, after all-but she also wasn't going to run and hide. If they bothered her, she’d react.
She never killed anyone though, but was willing to change that if they made her. The normal people bothered her, sometimes, but she supposed that she’d have to live with them. Her father was the only one who had understood her, and she had had to let him free.
She set out for the spaceport, trying to lose herself in the crowd. She had to go through Customs, of course, but they should be easily dealt with. She intended to just hop over to another planet in the system, then find herself a job that wouldn't require her to have to deal with the normal people.
she felt something. Not something with her gift, she literally felt something stab into the back of her neck.
She collapsed, legs going numb. She stared up into a face, one that seemed dead, unmoving. There was no sense behind it.
“Damn you...” She whispered, staring into the dead face. “I set you free...” The numbness spread throughout her as she reached out one hand, trying to force it backwards with her gift. She lacked the strength though, and she drifted off...
“The Morton seems to have been effective, First Citizen.”
“Understood, Agent. It appears that Project Five will be effective-I doubt it will ever face anyone like her again though.”
“Agreed... Ma’am, can we kill her?”
“No.”
“Ma’am, she’s a threat.”
“And Tactical is for dealing with special threats. Whether it’s Imperiata commandos, rogue Fleet captains, or Supersoldiers gone wrong, it is your responsibility to counter them.”
“Ma’am, she’s insane.”
“Targeted Morton will fix that.”
“Ma’am,-”
“No objections, Commander. My husband and I have decided that she’s to be studied. You’re old enough to remember the Republics birth, commander. You remember the promise that the other Founders and I made to the rest of Terran Space?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Never again. This girl will make that possible.”
“Understood ma’am.”
“Thank you, Commander.”
“Ma’am... May I ask one final question?”
“One last.”
“May we use Morton to build in contingencies?”
“By which you mean a kill switch?”
“More or less, Ma’am.”
“Qui tacet consentire videtur, Commander.”
This person, this woman, wasn't Tactical-she lacked any of the signs that her father had told her to watch for.
The woman made a beeline for Cassie, who tried to pretend that she wasn't studying the intruder.
“Cassandra Freeman?” She asked.
“No.” Cassidy replied.
The woman frowned.
“Before you ask, there is no Cassandra Freeman. I do, however, sense that I’m the person you’re looking for.” Cassie said, still looking down to her father's body.
The woman started. “You’re... I was not expecting that, Ms. Freeman.”
Damn. Cassie thought. I need to be more careful around the normal people-they’re not as special as I am.
“I’m Sheila Hazzard, from Mil-Ind. I worked with your father, Ms. Freeman.”
Cassie nodded. “I know.”
The woman nodded. “I understand what it’s like to be a human experiment, Ms. Freeman.”
“My name is Cassie, First Citizen.” She said, addressing Sheila by the title that she gained by relation to her husband, though she apparently didn’t use his name.
Sheila nodded. “I’m sorry, Cassie.” She placed a hand on Cassie’s shoulder, in a gesture that Cassie could tell was calculated.
“No, you’re not.”
That disrupted the other woman’s plan, Cassie could tell.
“You don’t care about me.” Cassie said, pulling herself out of her reverie. “You’re like him. You don’t love me-you want me.” Cassie turned to face Sheila. “You. Can’t. Have. Me.”
Cassie could see fear well up in the woman’s eyes, as well as a general feeling that Cassie was insane.
Which, in all fairness, she probably was.
Regardless, that didn't mean that she had to stay here with the woman. She lashed out, sending Sheila reeling backwards a good five feet.
The woman gasped, trying to stand as the room erupted in commotion. She rolled over onto her side as Cassie bolted for the doorway.
“Tactical, this is Hazzard. The Objective is rogue, repeat, the Objective is rogue!”
Cassie had been on the streets of Bernan for what felt like forever. She had years of experience to draw upon, not all of it her own.
Something hit the ground in front of her, falling too fast to be accounted for by the local gravity. No, not something-someone. He stood, black armor absorbing sunlight. He unslung a rifle, taking aim at her.
Cassie had fractions of a second to react, but, in that peculiar shadow-land between insane and special that she occupied, that was enough.
She saw it unfold in real time, but had perfect knowledge of the situation. The bullet followed a predefined set of rules, as did the Tactical soldier firing it. It took barely any effort to avoid it.
He fired again, and she dodged a second time, though, as they were closer, it was harder. She wanted to disable him hand-to-hand though-she hated using her gifts to kill. She hated having to kill at all, of course, but doing it with her gifts was especially wrong.
The third bullet was airborne, and as she tried to dodge it, she knew that she had screwed up. Horribly.
It made contact with her chest, and she fell backwards, feeling like she had been punched.
Furious, she stood, picking the bullet up off the ground, examining it. It wasn't even a tranq-just a bullet. She felt complimented-they understood who and what they were dealing with. It had been forever since she allowed herself to get shot though, and she didn't intend to allow it to happen again.
“Drop your shield!” The Tactical man barked, voice filtered through his vocoder. “Get back down on the ground and raise your hand above your head!”
She shook her head. “You’ll never learn, will you?” She whispered.
She thrust one hand forward, and sent the man careening backwards into the wall. “You’re useless.” She said, striding towards him. She extended her arm, and his sidearm flew into it.
She pulled the trigger. Part of her screamed out, part of her rejoiced, as the bullet slammed into his helmet. It didn’t do any damage to him, of course, but it did do a rather good job of distracting him until she closed to close quarters.
She knelt by him, and used her gift to deactivate the seals that held his helmet in place. She pulled it off, then slammed his head back into the wall, dazing him.
“Mr. Tyrian.” She said, staring into his eyes. “You’re about to die.”
She could feel his fear. “There’s a sniper at the end of the road, and six men inside the mortuary guarding the First Citizen.” She made him say. “All armed, but not anything that would pose a threat to you.” His voice was flat, lacking any emotion-as it always was at times like this.
“Very good.” She said, and shot him again, this time into his exposed face.
She turned to face the sniper-she could tell exactly where she was, after all.
Hazel. She whispered. I’m harmless. He had his helmet off because he didn't see me, and you shot him. You’re insane, Hazel. You always hated Jonathan Tyrian. I’m harmless, Hazel. Why don’t you go try to do that to the rest of your team?
She withdrew from the snipers mind as she departed, moving across the rooftops to her new objective.
Cassie smiled, adjusting her clothing slightly. She might be on the run, but there was no reason to look sloppy.
She’d steer clear of Tactical-she wasn't stupid, after all-but she also wasn't going to run and hide. If they bothered her, she’d react.
She never killed anyone though, but was willing to change that if they made her. The normal people bothered her, sometimes, but she supposed that she’d have to live with them. Her father was the only one who had understood her, and she had had to let him free.
She set out for the spaceport, trying to lose herself in the crowd. She had to go through Customs, of course, but they should be easily dealt with. She intended to just hop over to another planet in the system, then find herself a job that wouldn't require her to have to deal with the normal people.
she felt something. Not something with her gift, she literally felt something stab into the back of her neck.
She collapsed, legs going numb. She stared up into a face, one that seemed dead, unmoving. There was no sense behind it.
“Damn you...” She whispered, staring into the dead face. “I set you free...” The numbness spread throughout her as she reached out one hand, trying to force it backwards with her gift. She lacked the strength though, and she drifted off...
“The Morton seems to have been effective, First Citizen.”
“Understood, Agent. It appears that Project Five will be effective-I doubt it will ever face anyone like her again though.”
“Agreed... Ma’am, can we kill her?”
“No.”
“Ma’am, she’s a threat.”
“And Tactical is for dealing with special threats. Whether it’s Imperiata commandos, rogue Fleet captains, or Supersoldiers gone wrong, it is your responsibility to counter them.”
“Ma’am, she’s insane.”
“Targeted Morton will fix that.”
“Ma’am,-”
“No objections, Commander. My husband and I have decided that she’s to be studied. You’re old enough to remember the Republics birth, commander. You remember the promise that the other Founders and I made to the rest of Terran Space?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Never again. This girl will make that possible.”
“Understood ma’am.”
“Thank you, Commander.”
“Ma’am... May I ask one final question?”
“One last.”
“May we use Morton to build in contingencies?”
“By which you mean a kill switch?”
“More or less, Ma’am.”
“Qui tacet consentire videtur, Commander.”