Dysfunctional -- Chapter 31

Disclaimer:  The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Alec, Biggs, Renfro, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the fic belong to their respective owners, not to me.  No money is being made off of this fic.  I only own the original characters (X5-121, etc.).

Notes:  Spoilers/spoiler-ish stuff for “Cold Comfort” and “Pollo Loco.”

I wonder how many miles they made me swim today in the pool. I think I lost track after ten, 121 thought many weeks later as she made her way through the halls back towards her cell. It sure as hell made me work up an appetite, though. I’m so hungry that even the cardboard meatloaf sounds good! She turned around the corner and started to go down the hallway that she and the rest of Unit 3 lived in, barely restraining a wince as she passed by 494’s cell. It’s okay. It’s okay. Don’t worry, you’ve got at least eighteen more weeks to go and then you’ll see your best friend again. You can make it. She took a deep breath and stopped in front of her own cell and reached to open the door.

“Hello, 121.”

121 looked up suspiciously as 908 stepped out of her cell farther down the hall. What the hell is she so damn happy about? She’s actually shut up about 494 being in Psy Ops for a little while now. Something’s odd here. “Hello, 908. It’s nice to see you in a good mood today.”

“It’s nice to be in such a pleasant mood,” 908 returned cordially.

Okay, this is not right. “That’s correct,” 121 said. “Listen, 908, I just swam a lot of miles in the pool and I want to shower and change before lunch. I’ll see you in the cafeteria for lunch, okay?”

“Sure, no problem,” 908 agreed. “Just don’t get lost on your way there. Oh, that reminds me.”

121’s eyes narrowed. “Reminds you of what?”

“Nothing,” 908 said innocently. “It’s just something I heard in passing. It’s no big deal, really, just hearsay.”

“Cut the cutesy games, 908,” 121 told the other woman. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Have you ever noticed that some things happen in pairs?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s just that it might be a little bit longer before you see your best friend again, that’s all,” 908 said. She was unable to keep the smile off of her face.

121 rolled her eyes. “Very funny, 908. 494 is stuck in Psy Ops. It’s not like he can do much in there to extend his stay.”

“Point taken,” 908 conceded. “But I didn’t say that it was something that 494 did.”

“Huh?”

“It was—“

“908, I need to talk privately with 121. Please either return to your cell or go to the cafeteria early,” 511 said as he appeared at the head of the hallway. He walked up to the two women and stood next to 121.

908 just looked at 511. “I don’t see what the big deal is, 511. I was only going to tell 121 that—“

511 just cut 908 off again. “I believe that I told you to either get back to your own cell or to go to lunch.”

“Oh come on, sir,” 908 said in disgust.

“X5-908, I am giving you an order,” 511 snapped. He pointed back the way that he came. “Go!”

“Affirmative, sir,” 908 said. She paused for a moment as if considering something, then shook her head, saluted 511, and walked away in the direction of the cafeteria.

“What’s going on?” 121 asked suspiciously. “Is something wrong, 511?”

“Come on,” 511 told her. “We do need to talk privately.” He gestured towards 121’s cell and the two of them went inside and they sat down on the bunk. “I heard this in passing when I was heading back here. I wanted to try to find you before the word completely got out and it looks like I got here just in time.”

“You know, getting to the point wouldn’t be a bad idea,” 121 remarked, but she was starting to get very worried. She knew instinctively that whatever 511 had to say, it was very bad. “I’m sorry, 511, I didn’t mean to snap.”

“I know, sweetheart,” 511 said. He took a deep breath. “493 is dead.”

121 blinked. This had come out of left field. “What?”

“493 was found in a wooded area west of here, closer to metropolitan Seattle,” 511 said. “When they came across him, he was dead.”

“Holy shit,” 121 breathed. One of the ‘09ers is actually dead. I heard awhile ago that 734 had almost died from that progeria-like disease that a few of the X5s in New York had come down with, but she had been found and taken back to Wyoming and she’s fine and even re-indoctrinated by now. But an ‘09er is actually dead…and 494’s twin or clone even…my goodness.

“That’s not the end of it,” 511 continued. “It gets worse.”

“It gets worse?” 121 repeated. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach. “How?”

“A few months ago, a body surfaced with 493’s barcode tattooed on the back of its neck,” 511 said. “The body wasn’t 493, but the way that person died could only have been the result of an X5. More than a month later, another body surfaced. Same tattoo, same M.O. Then a few weeks later, another and a few days ago, another. Yesterday was when they found 493.” He frowned. “What’s even weirder in a way was how he died. He didn’t get sick like 734 did. When Colonel Lydecker and his team got to the site, there’d been signs of a struggle. 493 had a broken leg, but the injury that had killed him was a broken neck. The broken leg might have been the result of bad luck, but the broken neck…the C2 was crushed.”

“Like this?” 121 said quietly, making a motion with two fingers.

“Yeah,” 511 agreed. “And Colonel Lydecker didn’t bring any X-series with him to search for 493, so the running theory is that another ‘09er found and caught up to him before the Manticore team, they struggled, and 493 was killed. Whether it was in self-defense on the part of the second ‘09er, I don’t know.”

121 snorted. “Good thing that 494 was already in Psy Ops when 493’s sins came to light, huh?”

“Yeah,” 511 said. “As a matter of fact, 494 was brought back here and thrown into Psy Ops the day before the second body was found. Talk about coincidences.”

121 nodded. “Damn, so that’s what 908 meant about shit happening in pairs. I thought the bitch was trying to be funny.” She probably was trying to be funny. God, that smirk of hers, like she was so superior because of 494 and because of that ‘09er twin of his. I can practically see what was going through her mind now, too. 493 and 494 flip, and… 121 shivered suddenly and wrapped her arms around herself. What if this does happen in pairs? What if somewhere, someday, 120 just loses it? Let’s be honest here. I’m not the most stable banana in the bunch and 120 has been on the outside for years. 494 is not too different from me and look what happened to 493 after being on the outside. Oh my God, what if this happens to me?

“Don’t worry, baby, this isn’t going to happen to you,” 511 assured her. He pulled 121 into his arms. “You and 120 are not 494 and 493. 120 isn’t going to lose it and even if she does, that won’t cause you to lose it. 494 didn’t cause 493 to lose it or vice versa. I’d also heard that when Colonel Lydecker and his team had found the place near downtown Seattle where 493 had been staying, they found evidence that suggested that this kind of behavior had been going on long before that first body was discovered, maybe even years before. You and I both know that 494 hasn’t shown any kind of abnormal behavior until this most recent mission of his. 908 is just being 908. Just ignore her, okay, sweetie?”

121 took a deep breath. “Okay.” She felt 511 loosen his grip around her and she straightened up and sighed. “It’s just…I’m scared. What if this does happen to me? What about when 494 gets kicked loose from Psy Ops, what if something happens to him, something on the scale of what 493 apparently did?”

“I’ve thought about that, too,” 511 admitted. “I won’t let that happen. Neither of us will let it happen. 494 is not 493. It won’t happen.” He managed a smirk. “Besides, who knows what could have happened? 493 did spend his formative years in a different facility than we did and even if they are identical twins and not clones, it could even have been something that happened in the womb that could have triggered something with 493. Shit like that can happen to one twin and not the other, even if they are identical.”

“I was wondering what had happened to our resident shrink,” 121 said, laughing a little.

“He was taking a vacation,” 511 joked. He looked at his watch. “You’ve still got time for a shower before lunch. I’ll wait for you.”

“Thanks,” 121 said. “I’ll be out in a few.” She went into her bathroom and quickly showered and then got dressed and then followed 511 out of her cell and to the cafeteria. By the time that they’d gotten their trays and had sat down, the other members of their unit save for 494 were already sitting at their table. Some of them were grinning, others looked even more moody than usual, and a few of them didn’t look any different than what they normally did. 121 and 511 exchanged a glance.

“I took the liberty of telling everybody,” 908 spoke up, her voice full of fake innocence. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, it was going to get out anyway,” 121 said sweetly. “Thank you so much for saving 511 and myself the trouble, 908.”

“When it rains, it pours.” 786 didn't bother to conceal the glee in her voice. “This is just amazing. I guess some things are genetic.” She glanced at 121 and smiled innocently. “Wouldn’t you say so, 121?”

“Possibly,” 121 said. She looked at 786 thoughtfully. “I’m starting to wonder if your egg donor was from Amsterdam.”

“Huh? What could make…” 786 trailed off and then rolled her eyes. “Very funny, 121.”

“Hey, give the woman points for creativity,” 511 pointed out.

“I won’t give her shit,” 786 said.

“Neither would I,” 237 agreed. “I also wouldn’t complain any more about my so-called ‘anger management issues’ after what 493 just did, 511. I might have a little bit of a temper, but have I gone completely psychotic and started to murder people? No, I have not.” He smiled. “You might be able to call me a lot of things, but a psychotic ‘09er is not one of them.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, wait a second. I meant a dead psychotic ‘09er. My bad.”

511 shrugged. “What’s your point, 237?”

“Not much. It’s just that when 494 eventually gets out of Psy Ops, I won’t be the one that you’ll be watching over like a fucking hawk every second of the day,” 237 said. “He always acted so high and mighty when he told me to calm down or threatened or actually sent me to the brig when I lost my temper, let’s see how he likes getting a taste of his own medicine.”

Is this the logic police? I have an emergency here. “494 has never had a problem with his anger before and based on what I’ve heard, it wasn’t his anger that caused him to botch his most recent mission,” 511 pointed out. “What happened with 494’s mission sounded like a fluke occurrence to me. If 494 was going to lose it at any time the way that 493 apparently did, then he would have been sent to Psy Ops a long time ago the way they watch us here. I have complete faith in 494 and I can honestly say for both myself and for 121 that the two of us will not be watching 494 like a hawk when he does return to this unit.” He took a sip of his juice. “You’re also presuming that 494 will be demoted down from C.O.”

“Well, isn’t that a given?” 237 asked, confused.

“Not necessarily,” 121 replied. “The fact still remains that all of 494’s test scores and other results are higher than everybody else’s here. With the exception of what happened on that mission, he’s still the best X5 here. The possibility that he will retain his rank is actually pretty high.” She saw 908 start to open her mouth and beat her to the punch. “They didn’t bump 908 down the chain of command whenever she got out of her various stays in Psy Ops, including her most recent one. She’s still fifth in the chain of command in our unit and still holds her rank within the platoon as well. The precedent is there.”

“I don’t think that anything quite like this has happened before, though,” 714 reminded 511 and 121 triumphantly. She exchanged grins and high fives with 908 and 786.

511 shrugged. “Okay, so you’ve got a point there. My logic still stands, though.”

“So what?” 786 said. “Is your logic really as sound as you believe?” She raised an eyebrow. “Are you as sound as you believe? How are any of us to know if maybe you won’t simply lose it one of these days? You are best friends with 494 and 121 after all. Maybe one day you’ll simply go berserk and be taken off to Psy Ops and we won’t hear from you for a very long time.”

“If you really want to employ psych warfare, 786, you really should have been paying attention during class,” 121 commented, rolling her eyes. “Getting the facts straight would also help. I have not lost it to this point. I’ll be willing to admit that it could happen in the future only because anything is technically possible, but even so.” Not to mention that if you had been paying attention all these years, you’d realize that 511 is the sanest out of all of us!

786 gave 121 a nasty look. “511 doesn’t need you to fight his battles for him. Who the fuck do you think you are, his mother?”

No, I’m his girlfriend. “No, I’m not his mother. But I am his friend,” 121 said.

“Funny, 786. When 908 got thrown into Psy Ops for her long stay there, who was it that gave 117 from Unit 6 a black eye when he said something nasty? Was it you or was it 714?” 511 said pointedly.

“That was me,” 786 admitted. “That was also different. 908 wasn’t around to defend herself.” She saw the looks on the faces of 511 and 121 and correctly guessed what they were thinking and she smiled cruelly. “The difference between 908 and 494 is that 908 is a good person who deserves to be defended when the situation calls for it. 494 is just an afterthought. He was an afterthought from nanosecond one. Even his designation says so. Four-nine-four to Psycho’s four-nine-three.” She gestured to 121 before she took a sip of her soup. “Just like this overgrown piece of shit here.”

“Be creative, please,” 121 begged. And don’t make me laugh while you’re at it. If 908 is considered a good person, then I’m a freaking saint!

“Hey, if that’s what you want,” 786 said. “How about—“

“—you be quiet and not say a damn word for the rest of the day,” 511 finished. “The last thing that I want to see is anybody getting sent to the brig for unsanctioned fighting.”

908 gasped in mock surprise. “Even me?”

“Yes, even you, 908,” 511 said. “That also means that I don’t want to hear a word out of you.” He turned around to look at the rest of the members of Unit 3 that were present. “That goes for any of you.” He looked next to him at 121. “Including you, 121.”

121 nodded in understanding. “Yes, sir.” The rest of the unit also nodded and they all went back to their food, though 908, 786, and a few of the others kept giving 511 and 121 dirty looks throughout the rest of lunch. 511 and 121 both ignored them, relieved that they had at least become quiet. I hope this lasts. Please let this last…

TBC