The Society Ch. 04

"Yes sir, it's a horrific occurrence. But Jack has fortified our defenses and agents are running 24/7 shifts in the docks now, to make sure nothing like this ever happens again."

"Well, it shouldn't have happened once. I can't believe this. Sure, congratulations on increasing the security with the agents, but this could have destroyed us, Jack."

"I know Marshall, but she had a drone that could make her invisible. That's something not even we were able to duplicate. We had never seen anything like it."

"I don't care if she could shoot lasers from her eyes, or move things with her mind, the point of ruling with an iron fist and maintaining order is to prevent something like this from ever happening."

"It will never happen again." Fran said.

"We thought that same thing when we took over the space station. We used to say it was so high, it was like a second heaven. No one could reach us, we thought. How fucking wrong we were. What did you find out in the interrogation, Jack? I know you can make them talk better than anyone."

Fran and Jack repeated their nervous looks from earlier, and glared at each other, hoping the other one would break the bad news to Marshall. It felt like everything they were telling him was bad news, negativity about the Society. They tried to non-verbally communicate, wondering if they should lie or tell the truth about what happened.

"Well, sir..." Fran started.

"What is it now, Fran? I'm about to go back to sleep for another couple of years if you don't tell me what happened now."

"Marshall, Ethan took care of her..." The General said.

"What do you mean, he took care of her??" Marshall said, the anger searing through him into his words.

"After our enforcement agents arrested the girl and took her into custody in the termination chambers, Ethan made an executive order to handle her himself. He apparently went to the chambers, interrogated her, and then finished her."

"Please tell me you're joking."

"Don't worry, Marshall, the girl is gone, she's dead. She's not in the chambers and no one has seen any mysterious activity since the incident. Our agents have been working double time and we have increased the number of agents set up around the docks and other highly populated areas."

"That's not the point, Fran! And you know that!" Marshall exclaimed, coughing from the strain his frustration was taking on himself.

"We know, Marshall, I was just as upset as you are now, I even went to Ethan and-

"What gives him the right to just bypass protocol and do what he wants? We don't know what he asked her, or what he did, or anything! That kind of shady behavior is not the way. It isn't our way, Jack, you know that."

"I know, sir..."

"Sir, if it helps at all, we do have another member working for us." Fran said.

"Another member? What are you talking about?"

"A young girl who works as Ethan's personal assistant, and has for three years. Her name is Alyssa. We converted her to our side and convinced her to give us intel on him."

"She's the one that told us about his meetings with the maintenance and medical teams." The General added.

"Exactly, and she's been very helpful. I wouldn't say Ethan trusts her, because he isn't the trustworthy type, but his reliance on her and time they've worked together makes her the perfect woman for the job." Fran said.

"How do you know you can trust this Alyssa?"

"She loves the Society Marshall, the way it is. She has a righteousness about her, a need to protect the Society's guiding principles and do whatever it takes to maintain order. Seeing that Ethan is disrupting that order, and not following the principles, she took the job. I trust her." Fran replied.

"As do I."

"And for the moment, she trusts me."

Marshall gave each of them a scathing look, one that both Fran and Jack remember from years ago, the kind that looked for lies or distrust. That was one of Marshall's key qualities, almost an ability that had helped him rise in the ranks and lead the Society, being able to point out a treasonous or untrustworthy person, especially by looking at them. It often dissuaded enforcement agents and others working under him from having malicious agendas or betraying him.

"Would you like to meet her, Marshall? Do you want us to bring her down here?" Fran asked, hoping it would help calm him down if he met Alyssa face to face and could judge her for himself.

"Does she know about me, or any of this right now?"

"No, she doesn't. She only knows what she's supposed to do for now." The General replied.

"Okay, good, keep it that way. Don't bring her down here yet. It's too soon for her to see me, and all of this. It might shock her into betraying us or switching sides. If she's committed like you say, she won't have to know the full plans to be useful. For now, keep a close watch on her, and make sure you know what she's doing with Ethan and how she's interacting with him.

"Already done, Marshall. We've been keeping a very close eye on her. We want to make sure she's really on our side." Fran said.

"Exactly. That's the last thing we need right now. But she could be a valuable asset. Next time to meet with her I want you to tell her to try and find out more about the girl that infiltrated the station. Even though she's dead, Ethan still knows something about her, about her motives. Way more than we do for sure. It isn't sitting right with me that we don't know more about the girl who achieved the impossible, and I won't let him keep that information to himself. It belongs to all of leading the Society, in order to protect it."

"Agreed, Marshall." The General added.

"Find out more about her, whatever you can, however you have to do it. There could be something else going on here."

"Okay Marshall, we will."

"Good, now let me get to sleep in this fucking thing. I have a lot to think about."

"Alright, sleep tight old man." The General quipped one more time.

Fran closed the pod and but didn't activate any of its cryogenic settings, so Marshall could just sleep soundly. She and the General left out, reactivated the security lock, and then headed back to the main area of the station. Before they went to their separate rooms for the night, however, they spoke quietly in Jack's office.

"Are you sure she'll be able to find out anything from Ethan?" The General whispered.

"I'm not sure, I mean Marshall knows Ethan, better than all of us obviously. If he says she can do it, then we have to put our trust in him."

"I guess you're right, but he doesn't know Alyssa. She can be...erratic. Effective at times, but erratic."

"I know, but she's committed to the mission and I trust her. What I'm worried about is Ethan. Marshall may know Ethan more intimately than either of us, but he hasn't seen or interacted with him in three years. Ethan isn't exactly the same person as before, especially recently. If anything, it's his erratic nature I'm concerned about."

"There is an unpredictability there that's been difficult to read. He's always been difficult to read."

"Well let's hope Alyssa can read him and get some information. We'll tell her before her shift."

"Alright."

***

Shit, I almost forgot! Don't wanna be late!

Alyssa was rushing a little faster this morning, for the first time in a while getting ready for work. Since returning as Ethan's personal assistant, she had recommitted to punctuality, the level of punctuality that Ethan saw as appropriate and always abided by himself. Remembering that it was a pattern lateness that got her put on leave the first time, she wasn't going to give him another reason to send her away from her job. It was especially important now that she focus on her duties because she couldn't afford to leave the job and risk the mission that Fran and the General gave her.

All of her clothes were neatly folded and ironed the night before, a schedule was made to give her ample time to finish her work, and she made sure to get enough sleep. So, the mornings were typically smooth now, but this morning was beginning a little earlier because she was supposed to meet with Fran and the General in his dark creepy office early this morning before heading to work at 8. They messaged her late last night, and she barely heard it come through to her room. They wanted to meet at 715, so she figured it was something pretty important to be so early.

After putting her uniform on and doing her hair, Alyssa scurried down to the General's office and rang. The door opened slowly and Fran gestured her to come in.

"Come on in, Alyssa." Fran whispered. Alyssa noticed that she was peaking behind the door stealthily as well, which confused her at first. Then she remembered that Fran wasn't actively a part of the enforcement agents, and was still considered a sweet old lady and assistant to the majority of the Society. She had to be careful.

As she walked in, the General was standing up in military form, stiff and robotic as usual while Fran went to sit down behind the desk after the door closed behind them.

"Go ahead and take a seat dear. How have you been? How are things going?"

"Fine, Fran. Just trying to adjust to everything you know."

"Oh I know, it must be difficult for you. But so far me and the General here think you're doing a fine job. You have nothing to worry about."

"Thanks, I've been doing better though." Even though Alyssa was now aware of Fran's involvement with the General and the Society, she still felt a warmth emanating from her, a comfort that made it easy to speak with her.

"That's good to hear. So, how's Ethan? Any startling developments?"

"Nothing yet, just the same ole stuff, paperwork and data and what not. He has been focused more on technology recently since his meeting with the mechanics, but I'm not sure what that means yet. I haven't read a lot of paperwork about it, so I only know that he wants them to work on new technology."

"Stay vigilant when it comes to that, Alyssa. That information could be very valuable to us." The General responded in his scruffy voice.

"Yes dear, pay close attention to that. But how is he doing in general?"

"Well, you know how he is Fran, he's really cold emotionally and almost impossible to read. So, it's not like I've had an emotional breakthrough with him or noticed any anger or anything. But he does seem a little different, almost like there's been a spark in him that's led him to make changes. It's subtle, but he isn't just doing the same things like clockwork anymore. It's hard to explain."

"I understand, trust me. Which is exactly why this next task we have for you is so important." Fran said.

"A new task? It isn't anything violent or drastically different, is it?"

"No, of course not. It's very similar to what you're doing now." The General replied.

"Relax dear, you have nothing to worry about. You play a specific and pivotal role in this mission, and that isn't what you'll be doing. What we want you to do is see if you can find out what Ethan knows about the girl-

"The one who snuck onto the space station?"

"Exactly, we need you to find out more about her. This breach in security was very serious, and directly contradicts the principles of the Society, being an oasis that is safe from the danger and harm that ravaged us so many years ago. We need to have more information on what happened, why she did it, her motives."

"It will help us create better security measures that are specifically designed to prevent a situation like this from happening again." The General added.

"Umm okay, I think I understand, that makes sense. But how I am supposed to do that?"

"Well dear, we're not sure about how to specifically go about it. I understand your trepidation. But you've worked closely with Ethan and we're trusting you to find a way."

Alyssa stood silent, with a look of uncertainty on your face, holding her head down. Fran got up from behind the desk and walked over to Alyssa, then placed her hand softly on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine. The only advice I can give you is to take your time. Be patient with him and don't rush trying to pry information out of him."

"Okay, I'll do my best."

"Good, now hurry it's almost time for the day to start. We'll let you know when it's time for us to meet again."

"Oh, you're right! Okay, see you later then."

Fran and the General both looked at each other with slightly worried looks. While they trusted Marshall's plan, Alyssa didn't seem too confident and they hoped it didn't backfire.

***

"Sorry sir, I didn't mean to interrupt you."

"It's fine, Alyssa. It's time for you to come in anyway."

"Okay."

Alyssa walked in, just making it on time, to find a familiar sight: Ethan gazing upon the emptiness of space, in his usual ponderous mood. While much had changed in the past week, some things remained the same, and his morning routine was one of them.

"Go ahead and get started on the paperwork I have on the table. There are plenty of reports to go through and a few evaluations to take care of as well."

"Oh, okay I'll get started on that right away sir."

Something was different this time, however. Besides the fact that Ethan seemed to be even deeper in thought than usual, he typically stopped staring out the window at 8, when the work began and things got busy. But today he was still looking out, standing still as a statue, almost in a meditative state while Alyssa got to work. Usually he would begin on the paperwork at his desk as well, or be reading in preparation for a meeting.

But the other thing that told her that today was different was his schedule, because there was nothing planned until later in the morning. Any time before noon was completely clear, no calls or anything. She wondered if he wanted to remain undisturbed until then, or if everything was okay. But years of experience working beside him told her that asking wasn't the way to approach it.

Which made her even more nervous about asking what Fran and the General wanted her to ask.

How am I gonna ask him about it now? He's even less approachable than before!

Then she remembered what Fran told her. About being patient. Taking her time. She tried her best she could to calm down and relax. She didn't need to ask him about it now. The right time would reveal itself, hopefully.

While Alyssa got started on the paperwork and schedules, Ethan was almost frozen in a ponderous state, gazing out at space while thinking about a number of different things. He couldn't help but be amazed at what Kodi was doing, and was still getting used to having someone else around who was like her.

It wasn't so much her intellect or mastery of technology and robotics, but it was her curiosity, her bubbly enthusiasm matched with a passion and determination that constantly kept her thinking outside the box. He observed that from the enhancements on the sensory drone, going beyond what he said, what he could fathom. That curiosity and that fire was refreshing, and scarce.

But that wasn't the only thing that kept him by that window. It wasn't just Kodi's mind. It was...the rest of her. Thoughts about her body started to run rampant through his mind, and he couldn't stop it, especially after what transpired the other night. It almost felt like a dream, like it was something he fantasized about happening but didn't actually happen. He wasn't sure why that happened at the moment, and the process of searching for rationalization or reasoning for it was like fighting through a labyrinth of his own thoughts, running into walls repeatedly.

And every time he tried, he would start to think about her on the table, what lie underneath her white t-shirt, the warmth in between her...

"Mr. President, sir?"

"Yes, Alyssa?" Ethan was almost startled back into reality.

"I think I need some help with some of this data over here. Some of the statistics aren't making any sense."

"Alright, I'll come take a look." He said calmly as he started walking back towards his desk.

Ethan realized that thinking about what happened with Kodi for long periods of time probably wasn't the best way to understand or deal with it. It was only leading nowhere. Working was the best thing for him to do, and so he finally sat down with Alyssa and analyzed data and paperwork most of the day, before getting to his meetings.

***

"Whew, that was a lot to get through. I think I might have actually broken a sweat."

"Yea, well you did good today. You're welcome for the exercise."

After a long day of work, both Ethan and Alyssa felt they accomplished a lot, especially considering how busy things had been lately. In addition to the immense amount of data, reports, violations, security measures, and other paperwork that had to run through, Ethan had a couple of afternoon meetings that took up his time as well. Being able to finish it all was a daunting task, and only completed because of their commitment to work that day.

But now they were finished, and finally cooling down.

"Well, I didn't ask for any exercise, sir." Alyssa quipped back at Ethan. He rarely told any jokes around her, so she pounced at the opportunity.

"Either way, I appreciate your help." Ethan didn't joke back at her, but he seemed to be in a neutral mood, which was better than the ponderous state he was in earlier. She wondered if it was time...

"Umm, sir, before you go, there was one more question I had for you..."

"What is it, Alyssa?"

"Well, I know we were reviewing security violations and reports today, in addition to security measures. But one thing I didn't see was anything about the girl, you know the one that found a way into the space station. Is there anything about her in here? Do you know why she did it?" Alyssa asked nervously, her palms getting moist the whole time she talked.

"Well, some of the new security measures and agent shifts are a result of that event, yes. So, her presence is definitely there."

"Oh, but there isn't anything on her motives or an official report on her?"

"There is an official report of the incident, because of her interaction with the enforcement agents and the maintenance division. But she doesn't have her own personal file. And she was planning to cause us harm, Alyssa. She wanted to steal from us. Hurt us. That's what I got out of her in the interrogation, before I killed her."

"Oh, well that's terrible, people in the Society could've been put in some real danger. It's terrible to say, but it's kind of a relief she's gone."

"Exactly, that's why we're introducing these new measures and making changes. To make sure something like that never happens again."

"Right, right. So, umm is there anything else you know about her?" Alyssa felt better, but wanted to see if she could get anything else out of him. The more information she got, the more impressed Fran and the General would be.

"Anything else you'll have to get from the enforcement agents, on the specifics of the infiltration."

"Oh, okay, that makes sense. Thank you, sir."

"Of course. Is there a reason why you're so curious about this now?"

Alyssa froze for a second, still getting used to her role in the overall mission.

"W-Well, well, I guess looking at all the data and everything, and knowing that she made it up here made me kind of worried."

"Worried about what?"

"Worried that it would happen again." Alyssa held her face down.

"You don't have to worry about that. Everything is fine." Ethan said coldly and calmly. He was thinking about seeing Kodi and the progress she made. His mind was already halfway out the door, and these questions about her sneaking on the station were more of an annoyance than he bargained for.