After the Second Fall Pt. 01.1

Humbolt laughed. "No idea, but I had the same reaction when I first heard it. Doesn't much matter any more -- I doubt Doc can fix that."

"No, probably not. Do you think he's going to tell us that a heel stomp to the sternum is also a magic bullet?"

"Not likely -- that's only the second or third time I've seen something like that work. No, I think that was just sloppy work from Twitch."

"Twitch? You mean Mitch?"

"You saw him on the ground: Twitch seems more appropriate now."

"Nice," nodded John appreciatively. "And on that morbid note, I'm going to head back to my office. See ya later, Geo."

"Alright, John. Be good."

On his way, John found himself following behind two women wearing the uniforms of the PET department. Recognizing the distinctive walk of one, he called out, "Hello, Madame Bower. How are you today?"

Ruth slowed but didn't stop. "Hello, Mr. Rogers," she said without turning around. "I'm doing well, thank you. Just heading back after taking my new charge up to see a fight for the first time. I'm sure you remember Rosie?"

"Of course I do," said John, smiling down at the girl who had turned to look over her shoulder as they moved along. "And what did you think of your first fight, Ms. Rosie?"

Rosie looked up again, but hesitated, trying to decided how to answer. "Well... it was, kind of, amazing and terrible at the same time." John arched his eyebrow questioningly.

"The Adams are so big, and so strong. I was in awe. I think I still am.

"And then when they fight, it's so... so... brutal? Terrible? Something. It's like their only purpose is to kill, and that's really, really intimidating, especially since I'll be around them every day. Does that make sense?"

John nodded reassuringly. "I know exactly what you mean. I will say that, like it or not, their purpose is actually to kill. It is literally why they exist: to win at all costs. That said, they're still kinda-sorta-mostly people like you or me -- just a lot bigger.

"Does that make you feel better?" John asked teasingly.

"Yeah, sure -- thanks," Rosie replied with a smirk.

"So, aside from being scared of the Adams that you're supposed to take care of, how are you finding your time here so far?"

Rosie stopped, bringing the threesome to an abrupt halt. She cocked her hip and added her hand for emphasis before responding. "First, I'm not scared of them -- just intimidated." Then she smiled broadly. "Second, I like it so much. I really can't thank you enough for taking me in. I've never had so much food and water, and Madame Bower even says I'm starting to fill out like a woman should," she said, emphasizing her point by raising her hands and spinning around. "See?"

John laughed and looked her up and down in a overly lecherous way, clearly meant to tease. "Absolutely." Rosie responded by sticking her tongue out.

John smirked back. "And where are you off to now?"

Clearly having no idea, Rosie shrugged and looked at her superior. Madame Bower responded, "Now that Rosie has some context as to why we're here, it's time she met some of the Adams, so I'll be taking her on rounds for the next several bells."

"Good for you -- it's about time she started doing some work to pay for all the food she's been eating." Rosie's reply this time was a huff and an exaggerated pout, and John's smirk got bigger. "Well, Rosie, I hope you enjoy yourself -- my Mom always seemed to," said John with a wink toward Ruth.

"Er... thanks?" said Rosie as John waved and continued on.

In his office after the hallway encounter, John continued to smile. Rosie looked so much better than she had when they first met. Her skin had a healthy glow and her face didn't look nearly so gaunt. She was still underweight, but clearly on the right track. Most importantly, at least to John, she seemed to be just as feisty as ever -- he was glad that the necessary formality of the Complex hadn't driven that out of her yet. Hopefully, it never would.

Regardless, he had more important things to consider, like how he was going to keep Pip from getting killed by a pool Adam. He couldn't tell Pip about the testing program -- that would defy the Council, if not directly, at least by intent. This meant that discussing strategy or practicing was out.

Or maybe not. Maybe John couldn't have Pip practice the particular strike that had killed Hammer, but they could try to practice that time-thing that happened. The problem was that John already knew that Pip hadn't been able to duplicate the Effect, which is what they had started calling it. They had tried to make it happen again during regular workouts, and even did some easy sparring between them, but that just left John with bruises on both his jaw and ego. They would have to get more creative, that was clear.

John kicked his feet up onto his massive desk, thinking through possibilities. The most obvious approach was to whack Pip in the head again, but that would wait until all other possibilities were exhausted. It could be that the Effect was driven by a fear reaction, brought on by seeing Hammer bearing down. Or possibly a release of adrenaline? John didn't really pose a threat to Pip, so it could have been that Pip instinctually knew he was in no danger; thus, no real fear.

But how to get a true fear reaction without putting Pip in too much danger? It might not be possible. What's more, having just had a fight, Pip wouldn't come up in the regular rotation again for several weeks, and by then it would be too late to practice -- in fact, if John's request to Director Humbolt was granted, Pip might have already faced an Adam by then.

If they couldn't test fear, the could certainly test adrenaline. By the time the next bell struck, John was already on his way to find Pip, an idea having gone from inception to maturity very quickly.

After checking Pip's room, John found him in the middle of a cardio workout, dripping sweat but still running hard and looking like he had energy to spare.

"Yo, Pip!" he called, trying to flag him down from across the training yard. "Come 'ere!"

Pip didn't slow his pace, but did cut short his circuit to comply with John's summons. When he arrived, he was breathing evenly and had no trouble speaking, despite the obvious intensity of his run. "What's up?"

John jumped right in, excited to put his plan into motion. "I want to try again to duplicate the Effect."

Pip shrugged. "If you like. Should I try to pull my punches more this time?" he asked with a smirk.

"Smart ass," replied John without anger. "Listen, I think it might be caused by adrenaline. Or maybe fear, but that would be harder to test. So I want to try to get you all amped up and see what happens. Are you game?"

"Sure -- I'm all for doing something fun. What do you have in mind?"

John smiled broadly. "I was thinking about speed. I want to grab a couple bikes and head over to that flat stretch of road on the East side of the city. I've already called the Meister's Office and they're shutting it down so we can play a little. Wanna see how fast the bikes can go?"

"Damn straight, I do," replied a broadly smiling Pip.

Less than a bell later they were sitting on their bikes at the agreed upon road. The bikes themselves were custom built in the Complex and chosen to fit their riders -- John on a size 3 and Pip a 5 -- but were otherwise similar. The machines were a purely functional matte gray without adornment. The seats and handles were black; the electric motors a flat white. Even so, the riders looked impressive to the crowd that had begun gathering, towering over the officials speaking with them and dressed in their black protective gear.

Introductions and instructions completed, the men dropped their visors and started their first pass at roughly half speed, as agreed upon beforehand. John had always enjoyed the bikes, ever since he had taken his first trainee out on them, and felt very fortunate to be able to use such a prized piece of training equipment; Pip, however, was something else entirely. Where John's willingness to push his own limits were greatly impacted by his healthy respect for the power of the machines, his soon-to-be Adam was confident to the point of arrogance -- except he was also the best rider John had ever seen, and very possibly the best in the history of the Adam program. Consequently, when they reached the curve at the end of the run and Pip flipped up his visor, he looked a little bored.

"Having fun?" John asked, smiling.

"S'ok," replied Pip. "I thought you said we were going to go fast, and without any curves it's not very exciting."

"Okay. Three quarters this time, then? I'll set the pace and you keep up."

"Much better -- let's do it."

Moments later the bikes sped past the onlookers, whose numbers were steadily increasing as word spread.

"Better?" asked John.

Pip shrugged. "Eh. I guess so."

"Really?" asked John, genuinely surprised. "I started to lift off my seat by the end." Pip just shrugged again. "Alright, hot shot. You set the pace this time and I'll be right behind you."

Pip smiled and nodded.

Their next pass left the crowd stunned and John gasping. "Holy shit, Pip. I didn't really think you'd open up the throttle all the way."

"Yeah, that was much better," Pip said with a smirk.

John was stupefied, left momentarily speechless. "Seriously?"

"Absolutely. I liked that quite a bit. It's neat to hit the end of the throttle, but I wish it could go a bit faster."

Shaking his head, John replied, "Nope -- I'm out. You can do the next one on your own. If I repeat that, I'm going to shit myself, die, or maybe both." Having made up his mind, John took off his helmet and hooked it on the seat behind himself. "Damn kids these days -- don't have the sense the Lord gave them.

"Wait until I'm down at the other end, and then you can take another pass."

Pip watched John ride away at a much more reasonable pace and an idea came into his mind. Without his handler close by, Pip had a rare moment of freedom, so before John reached the end and saw what he was doing, Pip took off his helmet and set it aside before shucking his reinforced jacket. Smiling to himself, Pip remounted the bike and looked down the long stretch of road, watching his mentor. The instant John's foot touched the ground, Pip cranked the throttle and took off, hitting the bike's limit as soon as he was able. He was having so much fun that he actually had to lock up the brakes to stop before the fast approaching curve, leaving long trails of black on the otherwise grayish road surface.

When he stopped less than an arm's length from an open-mouthed John, he was smiling as much as ever in his life. "Now that was fun," enthused Pip.

This time, John failed to come up with any words as he stared at his ward. For his part, Pip continued smiling and started to rock his hips slightly side to side, clearly very pleased with himself. It didn't help that the spectators were cheering loudly.

John eventually decided it was best to just let it go. "Well, did time at least slow down for you?"

"Nope -- not even a little."

"Damn - I guess that rules out fear and adrenaline."

Pip smiled. "No, just adrenaline. I wasn't scared."

"Seriously? You were just going who knows how fast, without any safety gear, and you weren't scared at all?"

"Nah. I'd already seen the road going that direction once so I knew what to expect, and I'm comfortable on the bike. Why would I be scared?"

"Oh, I don't know," said John, his voice raising to just short of a shout, "because a tire could blow out, or you hit a rock, or a gust of wind hits that oversized head of yours!"

Even though John was obviously pissed, Pip still felt great about having fun and pulling one over on his handler at the same time. "Yeah, didn't occur to me. At least we had fun, right?"

John just shook his head and let out a dramatic sigh, "Damn kids."

Gathering himself, John started again. "Alright, Pip, so what do we do now? I thought this would check both boxes, but since you're apparently a speed freak, we'll need to come up with something else."

"Another fight?"

"That's what I thought, but what if it doesn't work? You might get your head knocked off. No, we should try to come up with something else."

Pip shrugged. "You're supposed to be the brains, John -- I just follow orders."

"Yeah, whatever. Let's go grab your gear and then head back." When Pip smiled, John quickly interjected, "and no more full throttle. Without your helmet especially, keep it at half or less, understand?"

Pip nodded and took off, still smiling. John's concern was justified a moment later when Pip started riding a wheelie down the road, waving to the crowd as he went, going faster than John would have felt comfortable doing either. "Damn kids."

Late that afternoon John was again sitting in his office contemplating the Effect, and more specifically, how to trigger it. Pip had shown himself to be fearless on the bike, largely due to a combination of reckless youth and arrogance -- what's worse, if John was being honest with himself, he admired Pip's good-natured bravado. Even so, to amplify the experience further would likely lead to a significant injury or worse. So what to do?

Unfortunately, John's low key brainstorming session was abruptly interrupted by Lilith Collins, the Director of Public Relations. "What the actual fuck?" she yelled at him without prelude as she stormed into the office. "Were you trying to get him killed in front of all those people?"

Always fiery, Director Collins looked to be in a particularly foul temper. Although her head only reached John's midsection, she was a formidable woman, widely perceived to be both brilliant and ruthless. Knowing that direct confrontation was never the best approach with her, John chose to try semi-ignorance. "Who, Pip? Are you talking about us taking the bikes out?"

Director Collins didn't respond verbally, but her look told John that a different tact was immediately necessary.

"Okay, okay," acquiesced John, deciding semi-truth might work better. "It's really not a big deal. I wanted to test Pip's fear response, so I thought going fast would be a good way to do it."

"Without a helmet? Are you fucking serious?"

"Hold on a minute, Director," said John holding up his hands. "That wasn't actually my idea -- that was Pip's doing."

"But you let him!"

"Uh, actually, no. See, we decided to, uh, actually open up the bikes all the way and..."

"You what?" She was now shouting at him. "You were going full throttle on race bikes? On a public street?"

"Well, yes. When you say it like that it does sound like a stupid idea, but..."

"You think?"

"Director, please, hear me out.

"I really needed to test Pip's fear response, and I thought that would be a reasonably safe way." The director huffed loudly, but John kept going. "I didn't expect we'd be going that fast, but Pip wasn't even breathing hard with the last pass I led, so I let him choose the speed on the next one and he opened it up all the way."

"Without his helmet?" she responded, clearly not impressed.

"No, no. He had his helmet on at that point. But, after going that fast, I'll admit I may have been a bit shaken. I told him he was on his own for the last pass and went back to where we started. No sooner do I get there and he's screaming down the road, no helmet, no jacket, looking like he's having the most fun he's ever had. I was about ready to kill him myself, but he was just grinning like a self-satisfied idiot." John shrugged. "What are ya gonna do?"

"I don't know -- maybe act like an adult. Do your job. Keep your Adam from killing himself. Any of those would be a good start."

"To be fair," John started, knowing he was about to test Collins' limits, "Pip's fine. More than fine actually. It's like he's on top of the world. My only real concern is that he's going to try to push the limits in the future, and is eventually going to bite off more than he can chew, but that's not necessarily a terrible trait in an Adam -- Pip's smart, aggressive, and damn near fearless."

Director Collins threw herself down into a chair, letting go of some of her righteous anger. "Did you at least accomplish what you wanted to do?"

John smiled and shook his head. "No, the punk wasn't scared at all. All of that for nothing, huh?"

Collins let out a long sigh, tilting her head against the chair back and closing her eyes. "Alright. What's done is done, but do you understand what a disaster it would have been if either of you crashed, even if it wasn't fatal. Especially Pip."

"Thanks, Director Collins -- I'm touched by your concern for my well-being," John said sarcastically, but without malice.

"Look, Mr. Rogers -- hell, can I just call you John?"

John shrugged; being on a first name basis with a director was not usually a bad thing. "Yes, ma'am."

"Look, John -- you're a big, good looking guy." John puffed up his chest. "But have you seen Pip?" John deflated, hanging his head in mock defeat. "Knock it off -- you know what I mean.

"I don't know if you noticed then, or have seen the video the reporter made, but there were a lot of women along that road. When he went flying past without his helmet, I bet any one of them would have thrown themselves at his feet if given the opportunity. I mean, he looks like a classical statue come to life. Plus, he's crazy and reckless. And then he takes time to ride past them again, showing off and waving. He's like a perfect mix of bad boy and good guy, at least from the outside. Get it now?"

"Yeah, I guess," said John. "I know all of that is probably true; it's just not something I worry about. Do I need to start? Should I keep him in the Complex?"

"Actually, I'm thinking quite the opposite." John's eyebrows raised without his being aware of their behavior. "I think he should be the face of the Adam program."

To this, John couldn't help but laugh: a full, deep belly laugh.

"Stop it! It's not funny," said Director Collins defensively. "It's a good idea."

It took a little while, but John settled himself. "Director Collins-"

"Please, call me Lilith."

"Oh, okay. Director Lilith-"

"Knock it off."

"Sorry, couldn't help myself. Lilith, listen -- Pip is as far from a typical Adam as it is possible to be while still being in the program. You couldn't pick one that was less representative of the others. Besides, he's not even an Adam yet."

"I know," she replied confidently, "but it still makes sense. Humor me for a moment and you'll see what I see. Describe an Adam for me."

"Well," he said thinking about it, "big, strong, fierce."

"And?"

"Well... intimidating?" he said, thinking back to the earlier hallway conversation with Rosie.

"Yes, but not just intimidating. Scary. Really fucking scary, in fact. You might not see it because you're so much bigger than everyone in the entire city, but for a woman that only reaches to their waists, I shudder at the thought of being alone with them."

"Okay, sure, but they'd never hurt you."

"First, you know that there have been more than a few incidents." John reluctantly agreed with a nod. "And second, even though I know that intellectually, it's still hard to make myself believe it completely. What's more, that's me -- I've been around the Adams for years and years. Picture normal Mom-on-the-street coming across an Adam. She'd run away screaming -- no doubt in my mind."

"Alright, I agree. So what is it you want with Pip?"

"Nothing bad. I want the city's people to see him more, get to know him, and through him the program."

"Ma'am -- er, Lilith -- do you really think that regular folks are ready to see what goes on here? I mean, they already know -- intellectually, like you said -- but are they ready to really understand that the Adams purposefully, almost gladly, kill each other? How are they going to react?