“You know it didn’t work,” she said crossly. “We’ve been at this for three fucking weeks, Michael, and you know perfectly well that I would be freaking out right now if I had managed to implant even one working protocol in that poor boy’s head. For fuck’s sake, Michael,” she snarled, “how much further are you planning on taking this?”
Michael smiled thinly and crossed his legs.
“Maybe if we tried a stronger imprinting…”
“We can’t,” Rebecca said tiredly. “I’m already using Alex’s as a catalyst to try and implant through his innate resistance — I push any harder, we run the risk that he doesn’t know anything
Michael rubbed his smooth chin thoughtfully.
“What does that catalyst effect feel like?” Michael asked, changing subjects. “I’ve read about it in theory, the feedback loop and all, but watching you…”
Rebecca was quiet for a moment, her arm hanging in the air in front of her, frozen in the act of bringing the cigarette to her mouth.
“It’s as intense as it looks, probably more,” she admitted, eyes averted. “The longer I hold on, the more difficult it is to break the connection.”
“That must be frightening,” Michael observed.
Rebecca glared at him.
“The frightening part is that every time I do it I’m a little bit less inclined to try and break it at all.” Rebecca brooded, hugging one arm around her waist, looking absently in Alex’s direction. “My sanity is on the line, here, Michael, and you would do well to appreciate that fact when I ask you again, how much longer do you plan on pursuing this?”
“The boy must be trained,” Michael said flatly, his face determined and his eyes serious. “He has powerful enemies, and that’s not likely to change. He needs to be able to protect himself. He needs to be able to operate protocols. Conventional protocols.”
Rebecca flicked ash into the crowded tray on her desk. She looked at the day’s worth of paperwork, neatly piled in its manila folders in two parallel stacks, pristine, totally untouched, and sighed.
“There’s no precedent for this, Michael. This kind of resistance has never been overcome, not even once. The only protocol I’ve been able to implant is Absolute, and when Alex operates it, it’s black,” Rebecca’s voice was surprisingly gentle when she said this, looking thoughtfully at Michael. He stirred in his chair uncomfortably. “Before they augmented Mitsuru, it was the same deal with her.”
“Someone broached the Academy Barrier last night,” Michael said flatly. “They did… whatever they did to that Horror, and then sent it here dying, so close to dead that it didn’t even register as living. That Barrier has never been broken, Rebecca, not in fifty years, and they did this just to get at that boy.” Michael leaned forward and met Rebecca’s eyes. “That boy has enemies,” Michael insisted, “and he needs to know how to use protocols in order to defend himself.”
“If only there was more than one way to skin a cat, eh, Mikey?” Alice said playfully, sticking her head in through a gap in the door. “How long are you going to hold on to him, anyway?”
Rebecca sighed and waved Alice into the office.
“Are you guys planning on having another fight?” Rebecca asked, stubbing out her cigarette and then reaching for the pack. “Because I am so very not interested in that.”
“I’m being serious,” Alice said insistently. “When are you going to start teaching him something, Michael?”
Michael’s expression was stormy. He glared up at Alice, who took no apparent notice, settling behind the desk in Rebecca’s chair, putting her combat boots up in the two shallow grooves that Rebecca had worn in the desk’s surface, doing the same thing. Rebecca looked over at Alice as she slouched in her chair, sighed again, and then moved to the window sill, lighting another cigarette and pointedly looking out at the evening.
“I am teaching him,” Michael said curtly. “And in affairs involving the students, I don’t have to answer to you.”
Alice smiled and leaned forward in her chair.
“I know, I know. This is professional curiosity here, Mikey, one colleague to another, looking for a little information,” Alice said, throwing her hands up innocently. “Wanted to figure out how long you plan on dicking around, using up Rebecca and the kid’s time, implementing standard protocols that you know perfectly well aren’t going to work.”
Michael gritted his teeth, his hands tightening around the knobs on the arms of his chair, while Alice settled back in her chair and smiled. Rebecca sighed theatrically from across the room, but neither of them appeared to pay her any attention, they were so focused on each other. The staring match continued for a while, but Alice’s smirk was unflappable.
“Why would Alex’s training be part of your concerns, Auditor?” Michael asked acidly.
Alice hooted.
“Oh, you want to make it formal?” Alice asked. “That’s fine. I’m within my rights. The boy’s an obvious candidate for Audits, you must have noticed.”
“What?”
To Rebecca, Michael’s disbelief seemed forced.
“Sure, come on,” Alice said, laughing, “power like that, and with unconventional protocols? He’s a natural.”
“Unconventional?” Michael almost spat, standing up and pointing at Alice. “You want him to use Black Protocols?”
“Are the conventional ones working, then?” Alice asked innocently. Michael glowered at her, his face contorted with anger.
“The boy is a powerful catalyst already,” Michael said, gesturing defiantly. “In his own right, he is already a considerable asset. Until we have exhausted all other options, even discussion of Black Protocols is premature.”
“Rebecca?” Alice asked over her shoulder. “Have all the other options been exhausted?”
They both turned and stared at the petite brunette, sitting on the window sill smoking and looking unhappy, one leg dangling out in the evening air.
“Alice, you’re such a bitch,” Rebecca said, tired but not malicious. “I told you not to drag me into your bullshit.”
“But I’m asking for your professional opinion, here, Rebecca,” Alice objected, feigning innocence.
Rebecca looked over at them briefly, her eyes lingering sadly over the both of them in turn, and then returned her attention to world outside her window.
“I don’t think that Alex can use conventional protocols,” Rebecca said grudgingly. “The imprint with the Absolute Protocol was successful, but it isn’t conventional when he operates it. Don’t hate me, Michael.”
Alice turned back to Michael and smirked.
“Just like Mitsuru, remember? You know the documentation as well as I do, Mikey. He’s a text book case. Just like I was.”
Michael stood up angrily, his body shaking and his hands clenched.
“Do you even remember that, Alice?” Michael’s voice was tight and cold, his face angry and miserable at the same time. Rebecca winced and put her head between her knees as if she were dizzy. “Or did you have to look it up in your diary?”
Alice frowned briefly, and then shrugged.
“You don’t have to be a dick about it.” A troubled look crossed Alice’s face, briefly, before her normal confidence reasserted itself. “Since you clearly think that you’ve got the moral high ground, why don’t you tell me what your grand plan is for training a student who can’t use conventional protocols? Will he be beating Weir to death with his bare hands?”
Michael sat down heavily, as if he were angry at the chair.
“I’ve had enough of your shit, Alice,” Michael said, rubbing his forehead. “This conversation is over.”
Alice stood up slowly, pushing the chair in behind her, and walked up close to where Michael sat, bending down to look in his eyes, her face grave.
