MF1.0 - 51 - Respect

Stef stood outside Ryan’s door, unsure as to what to say to him. It wasn’t hard to guess what they were going to do with the Beast when they found him. It wasn’t fair. Then again, the world wasn’t built for fairy tales. The door opened. ‘Recruit? Did you need something?’ ‘Beast…the monster, he’s not in a blackout zone anymore. Jones said I should tell you.’ ‘Well, this can be your first field assignment, if you want it.’ ‘Yes,’ she said without hesitation. ‘I was listening. To you. Talk to yourself. There’s something you don’t understand about leeches. For every leech that comes to this world, no matter the kind of person they may be, or how pure their intentions may see, they tip the scales towards chaos. Those that escape their own dying worlds can cause the end of others. Chaos was the beginning of all things, but is also the end of everything. This world is a lot more fragile than most. Anything could tip the scales out of our favour.’ ‘I…’ He put his hand on her shoulder. ‘We do what we do to protect the world. So that humans can continue to be human. It’s not evil, it’s simply serving the interests of the greater good.’ ‘And one life…’ ‘One extra keystroke can spin a program out of control. One missed command can ruin a hack. One extra kilo can sink a ship.’ ‘Why aren’t you yelling at me for thinking like this?’ ‘Do you think I relish taking innocent lives? To destroy those brave enough to journey between the worlds?’ ‘No…’ ‘I do not shy away from my tasks, but I do not enjoy them all.’ She looked at her dirty shoes for a moment. ‘I think I’m feeling respect, I don’t really know what that feels like though.’ He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head. ‘I will inform three other recruits. When it’s time, you’ll be shifted there, so make whatever preparations you need to.’ She nodded and walked back towards her room – there was no reason to bring Frankie – after all, he was an innocent. She put him on the table and plugged in the charger on instinct – it was probably possible to require the battery full, but why take the chance of making him explode when the ordinary way would do just fine. ‘Yo, I want a mirror.’ Nothing happened.

Require: mirror. A full-length mirror appeared in front of her – it was the kind bounded by wood, the kind that had always scared her as a small child. She had always believed that she could see things in them – there was something magic about mirrors – not just the ones that fell out of the sky. She adjusted her uniform a little then looked at herself. A hackers in a suit – that was only supposed to happen for court appearances. ‘The man or the monster, Spyder, you can only choose one.’ Which is which?How well do I know either? Oh don’t start with this – you’ve known Ryan your whole life. As a spectre in my dreams, some faint ang- Don’t use that word. The Beast just wants his Belle, that’s not a crime. You going to give up the world so some freak can have his fairy tale ending? Fairy tales don’t contain clones. Love makes people do strange things. Like you would know. I’m just going to pick up my gun and do my job. Good girl. Don’t I get endorphins? Not this time.