John- United Human Faction- Day 26
John and Jeremy reached their destination without saying another word to each other. The lines had been drawn, and there was no changing that. The new prison was far more professional than the offices where they had resided before. John was far more comfortable, and Jeremy was far less.
John quickly filled out his paperwork and headed for the guard post. The guard turned the moment John entered the door.
“John, right?” the guard began. “I have it written here that you were supposed to be coming in with an administrator of some sort.”
“That’s why I came up here. You have the record of the administrator’s name, right?” asked John.
“Yeah Richard Campbell?"
“That’s him.”
“So then, where’s the boss at?”
“He’s a traitor. He tried to kill me and the prisoner. We left him in the woodlands.”
The guard looked up at John, not believing what he had heard. There was no surprise; he had dealt with traitors before. His disbelief came in the form doubt. He doubted John’s story, and he doubted the worth of a single prisoner.
John displayed his Field Agent tag to prove his sincerity to the guard. He looked shocked and immediately turned to his console.
“Sorry, sir. I didn’t know,” muttered the guard.
“It’s alright. Most of the agents stayed in combat, didn’t they?”
“Yes, sir. The ones left alive, at least.”
The guard paused for a moment before asking his question. John braced himself for what was coming, knowing he would have to answer the question at some point.
“If I may ask, sir, why didn’t you stay in the field?”
“I’m sick of war. I saw enough in Korea, and I’ve seen enough here.”
The guard remained silent as he finished his report on Richard.
“Is that all, sir?” he finally asked.
John nodded and left the station. He headed first to his quarters for some rest, then to his prisoner’s cell. It was still his job to oversee Jeremy, but he probably would have paid a visit even if it hadn’t been.
The Senator was fiddling with something in the back of his cell when John arrived. As he drew closer, it became obvious that the object was a mounted laptop on the wall of his cell.
“You shouldn’t keep things from people, John. Secrets build up in your arteries,” Jeremy said without looking away from his work.
John didn’t question how Jeremy had overheard the conversation.
“That little answer you gave over in the guard tower was an escape route for you.”
“It’s not a tower,” said John, trying to distract his friend.
“Sure it is. I can see it through the webcam. You know, these things aren’t made for one-way surveillance.”
“It’s not a tower, I was just standing in it.”
“Then why can’t you see the ground?” asked the Senator, displaying the same smile that had turned Richard against him.
“The computer is tilted upward, Jeremy,” John replied, sighing.
The Senator silently checked the computer, then altered the map of the complex he had been working on in the adjacent corner.
“You didn’t satisfy my curiosity, and you can’t escape this time,” he said when he was finished.
John looked away from the cell and tried to decide what he should or should not say.
“I have a family. I never told anyone in the Faction that. I can’t let my kids grow up without a father.”
“That’s part of it, now I want you to admit the other half.”
John looked at the Senator with an expression of pure fear. He couldn’t hide what lay inside him any longer.
“You’re the same as… him, aren’t you? You love this.”
“At least I don’t have to say it myself.”
“You need to accept yourself, John. If you sit here and try to keep calm and stay away from the action, they will find you.”
John stayed silent.
“What the hell did they do to you in Korea, John?”
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