Welcome to Our Life -- Chapter 21: X5-494

Disclaimer:  The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Jondy, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me.  No money is being made off of this fic.  I only own the original characters (Elle/X5-164, etc.).

Notes:  At least for the time being, Alec, Biggs, and other transgenics that were on the show in S2 that will appear in this fic will be referred to by their designations for the time being.

I led my unit and P2-400 down the corridor towards the guest barracks that Colonel Lydecker was directing us towards.  I kept my face as expressionless as any X-series ever did, but my stomach was doing somersaults.  Hey, I’m going to meet my identical twin for the first time in…well, I guess for the first time.  I don’t think seeing each other as newborns really counts since we had to have been days old at most when they split us up.  I mentally shook my head and stopped when Colonel Lydecker paused in front of a door.

“These are the barracks that you will be staying in for the next two days as well as for the day or two after your return from the mission while you are being debriefed,” he said.  “494 has your schedules for today.  Get settled in.  X5s, you will report to Yard C and P2-400, you will report to Yard F for line up and roll call at precisely 0645.  X5s, you will be lining up behind Unit 8.  That is all.  I will see you tomorrow morning for your final briefings and preparations for the mission.”

We saluted the guy and when he left us, I opened the door and we all walked inside.  Great, we were all sharing one room.  I looked around the room.  It looked pretty much like the barracks that we had shared before they’d split us up and put us into our own cells except that there were two doors where there had only been one bathroom door.  I shrugged and went inside and threw my duffel bag down onto a bunk.  “You heard the man.  Let’s get our things put away.”

511 dropped his own bag on the bunk to my right and sat down and grinned.  “Not a bad deal so far.  What do you think, boss?”

“Not any worse than back home,” I agreed.  I raised my voice a little bit.  “Okay, people, listen up.  Unit 3, our schedule is as follows:  After breakfast, we’re in the indoor firing range from 0800 until 0900 and then we’ve got a two-unit martial arts lesson in the gym with the X5 unit that we’ll be going on the mission with from 0915 until 1115.  From 1130 until 1230 we’re running the obstacle course.  Lunch is after that and after lunch at 1330, we’re going to be running a round of Capture the Flag against the X6 unit that is also assigned to the mission.  We have nothing on the schedule after that until we have to report to the cafeteria for dinner sometime between 1800 and 1815 hours.  Our final activity for the day is a Culture lesson in Lecture Hall 2 at 1900 hours and then we’re free until lights out which is at the same time here as it is back home.  Tomorrow after lineup, roll call, and then breakfast, we’ll be reporting immediately to the mission prep area.  400, today you are to report to this facility’s Psychological Operations area after breakfast and again after lunch, and then you are to report to the indoor firing range at 1500 and remain there until 1600 and you are to report back to Psychological Operations and then after dinner, you have two hours in the gym from 1900 until 2100 and then back to Psychological Operations until lights out.  Tomorrow, you will report to mission prep with the rest of us.  Anybody, any questions?”

“Sir, no, sir!”  Some of them were more enthusiastic than others.  A bunch of them were even rolling their eyes, but I didn’t care.  One of the few good things that I could say about most of the people in my unit was that they actually could set all of the crap aside when it was time to get a mission done, even 908 and she’s about as big of a loose cannon as they come.

121 sat down on the bunk on my left and started to unpack her things.  “Is it just me, 494, or do you have this weird feeling like you’re about to step into The Twilight Zone?”

“Something along those lines,” I agreed.  I shrugged and started to unload my own things.  “Not much that either of us can do.  It probably won’t be as bad as we’re thinking that it might be.”  I grinned.  “One of them is my twin, after all.”

“Yeah, that’s why it’s going to be that bad,” 121 deadpanned.

“Speaking of that bad, what do you think about the mission?” 511 asked.  He slammed his trunk shut and sat back down on his bunk and faced me.  “Just from what sketchy intel we have, these guys sound pretty fucked up.  Even with the strike force as large as it is, this is not going to be an easy mission by any stretch of the imagination.”

“The intelligence is ridiculously incomplete for a mission of this magnitude,” I agreed.  “That’s not even counting the fact that the intelligence that 312, 334, 728, and the rest of their old unit were given was an almost complete load of shit.  It’s never a good sign when we have to get the other half of our information when we actually get there, but we have to make the best of it.”  I shrugged.  “I think that rates an extra M-80 down their plumbing, don’t you think so, 121?”

“Give it a rest,” 121 said, looking exasperated.  511 and I laughed at her.  “Just because I did that one time on one mission when our target’s son wouldn’t leave me alone doesn’t mean that I’ll be doing it again.  And for the record, tweedledee and tweedledumbass, it didn’t cost us the mission at all and the jerk wasn’t hurt…badly.  The plumbing system in the creep’s home was much worse off than the guy.”

“Which one of us is tweedledee and which one of us is tweedledumbass?” I wondered.

“Well, I’m not a dumbass, so I guess that would make me tweedledee,” 511 said cheerfully.

“You’re right, 511, you’re not a dumbass.  You’re a complete imbecile,” 121 said sweetly.  The three of us laughed.

I turned and looked at the clock on the wall.  “It looks like it’s time for us to get going for lineup and roll call.  400, do you know where you have to be?”

400 nodded and smiled.  It was a little creepy that somebody, especially somebody from Psy Ops, smiles as much as 400 does, but she’s actually really nice so I don’t mind it so much.  “Yes, sir.  I know where Yard F is.”

237 snorted.  “What, did you read Colonel Lydecker’s mind to figure it out?”

400 just kept on smiling.  “No, silly, I’m a telecoercion specialist, not a telepath.  The colonel gave us the basic directions to get to some of the major locations in this facility on the way over.  Don’t you remember?”  237 looked angry, but he decided against threatening her.  That makes for a nice change.  Then again, it isn’t a good idea to threaten anybody from Psy Ops.  Physically, 400 is almost as strong and fast as us, but she could really do a number on our heads if she wanted to.  On her last trip to Psy Ops, 908 had ran into another X5 who was coming out and had been worked over by 400 and she had said that he could barely remember his own barcode number.

“Come on, people, let’s get going,” I said.  I went to the door and they formed a line behind me in rank order and we marched out to the correct yard for lineup and roll call.  I took a deep breath as we left the building and marched out to where the Wyoming X5s were arriving and forming lines.  I couldn’t get a good look at either 493 or 120 for that matter so I just went and formed a line behind the last unit there.  The trainers arrived and we began to go down the list.  They called out Wyoming’s Unit 1 and then moved on to the next unit.  I bit my lip.  Relax, 494.  It’s just roll call.  So what if you’re going to hear your long-lost twin respond to his designation?  No big deal.

“Okay, Unit 2!” the trainer shouted.  “599.”

“X5-599 reporting for duty, sir!”

“452.”

“X5-452 reporting for duty, sir!”

“656.”

“X5-656 reporting for duty, sir!”

“205.”

“X5-205 reporting for duty, sir!”

“493.”

“X5-493 reporting for duty, sir!”

I almost jumped out of my skin.  That was my voice!  494, you moron, that wasn’t your voice.  That was your twin’s voice.  You are identical, remember?  It makes perfect sense that his voice would also sound the same as yours.  What were you expecting, him to sound like a freaking chicken?

“987.”

“X5-987 reporting for duty, sir!”

“120.”

“X5-120 reporting for duty, sir!”

I glanced out of the corner of me eye to my right and saw 121’s eyes widen for a moment when she heard her own twin’s voice for the first time.  She saw me looking at her and we gave each other a quick smile.  It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one in this boat.

“That was creepy,” 121 whispered.

“Tell me about it,” I whispered back.

“Both of you, shut up,” 786 whispered in disgust, looking over at us and rolling her eyes.  The trainer closest to us might not have caught what any of us had said, but he sure as hell caught 786 breaking her stance.

“Eyes front, soldier!” he screamed.  786 immediately faced forward and stiffened her posture.  I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw that 121 had relaxed a little bit.  I felt a little bit more loose, myself.  I might know now that I have a twin, but nothing else has changed.

We got through the rest of roll call and were dismissed to go to breakfast.  We turned around and started to march back inside.  Several other units passed as, some of them not even bothering to pretend that they weren’t looking at 121 and myself.  Geez, could they look like any bigger idiots.  Apparently, 121 thought the same thing.

“What, you’re acting like you’ve never seen twins or clones before,” she said, annoyed.

“Yeah, they’ve led a sheltered existence.  It’s not their fault, really.”

121 started to turn around.  “Very funny, 49—“  She stopped abruptly and jumped when she realized that it wasn’t me that had made that remark, but 493.  “What the flying fuck?”  She shook her head.  “Great, they couldn’t have removed that gene from at least one of them, could they?”

“I guess that proves that we’re natural identical twins as opposed to clones, then,” I said cheerfully.  Both 493 and I laughed.  I’m starting to like my twin.  I saw the rest of 493’s unit approach us.  Looks like it’s time for introductions!  One of them, a blond guy about 908’s age, stepped up to me and held out his hand.

“I’m 599.  C.O. of Unit 2 here.  I’m your co-Commanding Officer on the mission,” he said.

I nodded and took his hand and shook it.  “Good to meet you.  I’m 494, C.O. of Seattle’s Unit 3.  These are my unit mates, 511, he’s my second-in-command, 121, 786, 908, 665, 013, 304, 237, 714, 859, 107, 619, 263, 295, 532, 578, and 967.”

“It’s good to meet you,” 599 said.  He’ll be changing his tune when he gets to know the rest of us.  He gestured to his people.  “This is my unit.  This is 452, she’s my second-in-command, and this is 656, 205, 493, 987, 120, 734, 369, 701, 210, 157, 164, 766, 798, 552, 831, 537, and 417.  We eat meals with the X6s that are assigned to this mission.  You can meet them then.”

“Why do you do that?” 107 asked.

“We have a mentoring program here,” 452 said.  “Colonel Lydecker established it years ago.  Basically, an X5 unit is paired up with an X6 unit and mentors them along as they go through the stuff that we’ve gone through.  Pretty simple.  I think both our unit and theirs have gotten better because of it.”

“That’s interesting,” 511 said honestly.  “Speaking of the X6s, I read in the information that Director Renfro gave 494 that 312, 334, and 728 had been transferred to that unit.  How are they?  Are they okay?”

“They’re doing pretty well, all things considered,” 656 said.  “They’re tough.”

“Who cares?  I’ve heard enough about how their unit got taken out to last me for a few lifetimes,” 908 said disgustedly.  “We know what happened, we’re going to do something about it, let’s shut up about it already.”

I raised an eyebrow.  “That was uncalled for, 908.”

“Sorry, sir,” 908 said insolently.  120 walked up to 908 and just looked at her for a few minutes.  908 looked up at her in annoyance.  “What are you looking at, you twin bitch?”

“Are you constipated?” 120 asked innocently.  Her face was completely innocent-looking, but I could see the twinkle in her eyes that meant that she was being a smart-ass, just like with 121.  121 turned around and buried her head in my shoulder to muffle her laughter.  I couldn’t help snickering a little.

“Excuse me?  What the hell are you talking about?” 908 snapped.

“Are you constipated, 908?” 120 said, her voice and face still as innocent as could be.  “You look like you’re having a lot of trouble with it.  Do you need to go to the infirmary to get something to help?”  I felt and heard 121 laugh even harder.  908’s face turned bright red, but she held her tongue and instead stalked down the hall and waited for us and the corner with her back to us.

121 lifted her head from my shoulder and wiped her eyes.  “That was good.”

“I just call them like I see them,” 120 said, grinning.

599 raised an eyebrow.  “R—120, that was unnecessary.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing that 908 doesn’t get from 121 on occasion.  She’ll be fine,” I said.  599 looked skeptical.  “It’s okay.  I’ll explain later.”  599 continued to look skeptical for another few moments before he finally nodded.

“Okay,” he said.  “We’ll be seeing you in the gym at 0915.”  He and his unit left.

“They’re as bad as the two of you,” 786 said.  “It’s a conspiracy.  Of all the people that could have been cloned or have been identical twins, whatever it happens to be, it has to be the two of you.  That’s pathetic.”

“It’s great, isn’t it?” I said.  “Come on.  Let’s get some food.  We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”