~The Price of Envy~

~By Rommie~

Jamie sank further against the wall, as Alec moved away from the small space they’ d shadowed since arriving 10 minutes before. Wanting to follow but unsure how to interact with his other friends she allowed her gaze to travel the small room finding something to distract herself from the current events.

"...The employer didn’t care what part of the gene pool I came from."

"What..." Suddenly aware of his presence, Jamie’s gaze levelled with Brooklyn’s. He had been talking to them, an old friend of Alec’s awaiting information on the relocation procedures. His face crumpled into a mask of confusion as she turned, searching for her brothers’ retreating figure. But Alec had already disappeared. "Sorry... what were you saying?"

"I’ve been underground. Some friend found me a job where the employer didn’t care what part of the gene pool I came from."

Who would employ a Transgenic? But the answer was simple. Toxic waste. "In the sewers?"

"Yeah, they kept killing all their workers. Some weird undercover company threatened to sue unless they took the proper precautions against the fumes, but that would have meant putting money behind it."

"So they employed transgenics, slave labour right?"

"Pay was crap, but it put food in my mouth. That and a roof over my head."

"Guess it didn’t work out."

"I’ve been out of action for a while. News travels pretty slowly, but from what I heard, there was a protest down in LA about 9 months ago. Transgenics took to the streets over equal rights. No guns involved, up until the army was called in."

Jamie felt the tightness in her chest, and suddenly she didn’t want to hear the story again. There was no masking the tremor, as her lids flickered shut in unwanted memory.

"I heard a different version."

"It’s called censorship, the Army open fired. Bet you heard this part. Some transgenics got hold of some fire arms, shot back. 13 civilians were killed in the crossfire. Anyway the Government was given emergency power, and they created some new laws to deal with the Transgenic threat"

Jamie hadn’t been there as she and her unit had found safety within the undercities. It had its advantages, but the outside world moved quicker than the lost bunkers and hidden tunnels. When finally resurfacing, they hadn’t been prepared for the aftermath of the new laws. But Alec had found her. Just as the rest of their unit was viciously massacred in honour of the human survival. She still remembered being held, as Alec attempted to save the last of his family, and the horror that had crossed Max’s features. She too had to be held back.

"No Transgenic has the right to own property. No criminal action will be taken against any person who ends the life of a Transgenic." She recited it as it had once been recited to her; the last one hurting the most. And again she saw the faces of her dying brothers and sisters. She couldn’t even comfort them, as the authorities moved in too quickly. The government had finally turned brutal, it had only been six months. It felt a lot longer.

But that was why they were here; escorted out of Seattle and into the only building that would take their species. The Government made no move, as they believed that the facility would soon be bathed in flames, trapping the occupants within its burning walls. But what the Government had arranged wasn’t entirely accurate. The building would burn, only no living creature would have to suffer the fire. There was already enough dead to conceal a mass escape. Their burnt bodies would be identified as transgenics, but the numbers of scorched remains would be impossible to count. For Seattle, the transgenics would no longer be a threat.

It had been Max who’d agreed to this. Mass relocation, along with the faked deaths of over 100 innocent soldiers. Then the worst part. Within two facilities the surviving transgenics would be housed, split from friends and family, probably for the rest of their lives. It was Manticore all over again, and Max had destroyed their hope the second she said yes to Lydecker.

However, she couldn’t help feel small amounts of sympathy towards her. To agree to this, all this, things must have been pretty horrific. Once again she glanced around the small room. But when she saw Alec, his smaller figure being held by Joshua, she once again felt the tightening in her throat, and the bitter sweet feeling of hatred.

"I heard about Alec. I didn’t want to mention anything in front of him. He Ok?"

"Max caused more damage than the bullet."

"What?"

"You know he took a bullet for Lydecker. It was because some human got past the defences at Terminal City. Before Alec got hurt, Lydecker was trying to persuade him to agree to all this. But he wouldn’t."

"But Max did"

"Max betrayed him..."

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"Hey, big guy." Alec was brought into a crushing hug as he moved towards his dog like friend. "Ok Josh,... bullet wound here." The injured X5 managed to wheeze as Joshua let go. His over-sized paws gingerly smoothing Alec’s crumpled jacket into a recognisable shape stopped suddenly when his fingers brushed back over the small bullet sized hole that punctured the black material. Alec couldn’t help but wince at Joshua’s worried features. "I’ve got more lives in me than a new-born cat, Lydecker said so himself." As much as he hated using his name, he found that Lydecker’s chosen word was the only thing that emphasised his ‘I’m always alright’ routine.

"Alec not indestructible, needs to stay with me and Max. Keep you out of trouble."

Their gazes met, and Alec found himself held within Joshua’s arms once more. This time he didn’t wince at the tight embrace, instead he closed his eyes and allowed the Transhuman to rock him slightly.

"Promise me you’ll keep an eye on Logan, he’s only human, and I’m getting the impression not all of the trannys at site ‘A’ want him there." The smile concealed the pain, but his eyes spoke volumes. "Look after yourself big guy, and..." But his next words were abruptly cut off, as unwanted words broke through the enclosed room. The anger that clipped the familiar voice wasn’t lost on Alec, and as he moved from Joshua’s embrace, he came face to face with the man he had grown to hate.

~~~

"The hour window I arranged with the Government was for your own safety. We lost 22 transgenics because they ignored my warning. The agreement was that once the window was closed, Seattle authorities would be able to deal with you, as they like." The anger that echoed over Lydecker’s almost emotionless features never faltered as he stared into the crowd frozen by disquiet. "As far as they’re concerned you’re all going to be burned to death. That however, doesn’t mean that they mind if they kill a couple of you themselves. I want to make this understood, until you reach your destinations, whether Site ‘A’ or ‘B’, you’re all under my command and you do what I say. I thought I made that clear when you agreed to let me help you."

Is that what he thought? That we all agreed to this. There was never a ‘we’ involved. It had been a one-person decision from the very beginning. And as Alec’s gaze wandered around the small room, the expressions his friends wore told of the same story; nobody wanted this, but they knew they would die without it.

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