management system humans themselves had created in order to control human thoughts. All the JAM had to do was turn their attention away from the true enemy, themselves, and then give a little push to encourage humans to turn back to their ordinary squabbles. Humans are just the sort of life-form to do that anyway, so there was no need for any out-and-out brainwashing. Their own systems and biological nature would lead to their self- destruction.
To people who were satisfied just to eat and sleep, it wasn’t the JAM they were worried about being trampled by. It was other people or groups who had weapons. Actually, Rei had spotted a few articles in the papers about just that sort of thing. This was stuff humans themselves were doing, not the JAM. All the JAM had to do was wait. A hundred years, a thousand, ten thousand, it didn’t matter to them. The JAM might have been trapped into fighting the FAF because their invasion was premature. The only things that might be able to resist the JAM weren’t human at all. The only defense was autonomous combat machine intelligences like Yukikaze.
Rei lay back on the bed, his arms cushioning his head, and wondered if it not might be for the best if humanity destroyed itself. Even if the JAM’s control over Earth’s computer network was just his own fantasy, he hadn’t changed what he was. Human society would never accept him, so it was all basically the same. Nothing had changed. Coming back to Earth had made him see that clearly, and he hadn’t even been here for half a day.
Rei wasn’t really concerned with being a perfect combat machine anymore, and he was now pretty sure he had acknowledged he wasn’t human. Rei was neither human nor weapon. He’d not known what he was until Lynn Jackson had told him with her all too brief answer:
He was a Faerian.
He fought because the JAM were there, not as a weapon, but as a man trying to survive as a resident of the planet Faery.
Even so, how had he come to be what he was? A person whose personality estranged him from normal human society. A person who couldn’t stand to live his life as just another face in the crowd.
Rei wondered if he was some sort of mutant. Nothing more than something inserted by the program of evolution to ensure the survival of the seed of humanity. They existed in every age. He’d just been born by chance into the age when the JAM were here. He had a feeling that the JAM, despite their desire to eliminate humanity, couldn’t simply wait for it to self-destruct because of people like him.
People like him were more a threat to the JAM than the vast majority of humans on Earth. For their part, the people of Earth saw the JAM as being not too different from themselves. They were certainly living that way now. At any rate, if you left humans alone, they’d probably end up destroying themselves.
But he couldn’t stay here on Earth and hope to fight for his life, especially if the JAM were already here. He had no weapons. He had only just arrived, but Rei made up his mind to call Major Booker tomorrow morning.
He’d have to thank Lynn. Since he’d have to wait for Major Booker to tell him which shuttle flight to take back, he could hang around with her. If time permitted, he might do a little sightseeing. Rei would go wherever he wanted. It was so obvious — the only weird thing being human common sense, which was an obstacle. Humans were the only animals that required passports for moving around.
It was a little early, but Rei decided he’d call Lynn anyway and got up from the bed.
There was a knock at the door. Wondering if she’d been thinking along similar lines, Rei looked out the peephole and saw men in the corridor. Three of them, and from their faces he could tell they were Japanese.
“Who are you?” he asked from behind the door. It had been ages since he’d spoken Japanese.
“Fukai Rei-san, we’re here to greet you,” came the answer through the door. “We’re the welcome party for returning soldiers.”
“Don’t need it,” Rei replied.
“If that’s true, I’m afraid we’ll need you to sign a document saying so. If we don’t follow procedure, we could all be accused of neglecting our duties.”
These guys weren’t going to go away. Rei opened the door.
“Nice room,” one of them said.
“Get to the point,” Rei said.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” said the man acting as their representative as he took out a business card. Rei read it.
“Japanese naval development division?”
“We need excellent pilots like you for our naval air forces,” the man explained.
Rei suddenly realized it was all a setup. Pack people off to Faery for minor crimes, then exploit the best of the survivors. It was payback for the enormous national expenditures made to keep the Faery Air Force running. Which meant this was an offer he couldn’t refuse. He was obligated.
“I didn’t fight the JAM for the sake of you people,” Rei said.
“Oh?” answered the man. “Then what were you fighting for?”
“So that I could survive.”
“Then please, keep that talent alive. It’d be a shame to let it go to waste.”
“Which is to say,” said another, “that a man with your personal history won’t be able to get a civilian job.”
“Mind your own damned business,” Rei answered, even as he was thinking that resistance was useless. “I’ll live my life gazing at my own navel. Tell your superiors I refuse. I have that right.”
“Then we’ll take you back to Japan at once —”
“No way,” Rei replied. “I promised a pretty lady that I’d meet her.”
“I don’t believe you’ve had contact with anyone aside from Ms. Jackson, which means we can make things very difficult if you don’t accept our offer. We don’t want another country to make use of your talents. If you’re Japanese, you should use them in the service of your country. Aren’t you a patriot?”
“So, I come home and that’s the only value I have now?” Rei said. “Fly a fighter plane as a Japanese so I can kill people from another country? Humans, like me?”
“To protect our national interests. It’s all grounded in international law.”
“Maybe, but what does any of it matter? Winning or losing against fellow humans... Why would I want to do that? What nations need are public service organizations, not political and military power. But you people still haven’t created them. I don’t feel like risking my life for something so primitive. When I fought the JAM, I did it for my own sake, not so that I could be used by you people when I got home.”
“You’re saying you didn’t do it for your country?”
“Of course not!”
“Then you’re under arrest.”
Rei knew it’d do no good to shout about what right they had to do this. Even if he went to trial, no court would ever rule to allow him to go back to Faery. They’d brainwash him to make him fight for his country. He’d be made to walk down the path of self-destruction as a human. That was the only path for humans to take, after all. Humans enjoyed fighting other humans. Manipulating others, even occasionally sacrificing themselves. Even when they didn’t enjoy it, they couldn’t help but do it. It was all part of being human.
Rei stepped back.
“Resistance would not be to your advantage,” said the man.
“Damaging my abilities isn’t in your national interest,” Rei replied.
“If you don’t come along quietly, then we’ll have no choice. Still, I think you’re being a fool. We can guarantee you a position in society, honor, a good living. I guess you were born a traitor.”
The two men behind him drew out weapons that looked like stun guns. Rei could tell they were designed to paralyze. He’d never be able to win in a hand-to-hand fight, but fighting was the only option he had left, he thought as he backed into the room.
“Fukai, get down! Look away!”
The warning had been delivered in English with a Faery accent. Rei reflexively dropped to the floor, sensing dazzling light even through his sealed-shut eyelids. He thought at first someone had thrown a grenade, then realized it was a flashbang.
“Fukai! Out! Hurry!”
In a second, Rei was on his feet and heading in the direction of the voice. His vision was a little dim, but he could see the three Japanese soldiers rubbing their eyes.
He ran down the corridor, finding Lynn Jackson at the elevator bank, holding the door open on one. He threw
