Jupiter's Halo Book One: The Lies

Chapter Twenty-One "The Path"

She knew before the conversation started; they weren’t going to understand.

“Is he still following the expected path?”

Natasha considered her answer.

“Not entirely.” She replied.

“Define your statement.” The voice in her communicator was impatient.

“He has abandoned his plan of escape and returned to the Hall’s chambers.” She looked up at her viewing pane briefly. “He has decided to enact some form of vengeance upon the Fatherhood. The word ‘rampage’ would seem to describe his current behaviour pretty aptly.”

Her words were greeted with silence. Natasha didn’t know if that meant shock or anger.

“This is not what we require.” The voice said after a moment. “This does not help us achieve our goal. He must follow the path.”

She smiled at the petulant tone as if the outcome was any less critical to her as it was to them. Maybe they should try getting their hands dirty for once, then they could judge how she saw fit to achieve her ends.

She had half a mind to cut the comms and just let events play out. Aitkin might be strong but he wasn’t about to take down the Fatherhood on his own, not in any way that mattered anyway.

She'd noted something odd about his behaviour, odder than the sudden need to undertake such violence at least. He was running through the Halls with the big Sergeant at his heels, killing guards indiscriminately and breaking open every door they found to search for more Fathers.

Crazy as his sudden switch might seem, she could see how the profile she’d created hinted at the possibility; pushed too far the hero complex combined with his innate need to prove his worth had turned Aitkin’s motivations from escape to murder. His insecurities had been cut away by Mylus’ knife. Maybe too much. He wasn’t thinking of getting out, as he should be, he was only thinking of retribution.

The odd thing was that he seemed to be seeing someone else. Someone hidden from her, deep inside his own head. Every once in a while he would stop without cause, his face set strangely as if he was listening to a voice only he could hear. She’d seen him glancing off in errant directions too. Looking at someone who wasn’t there.

That was really outside the expected behaviour. She could accommodate his desire for violence, but this erratic distraction was too bewildering to explain. It was as if someone else was interfering, but Natasha knew that couldn't be the case. Aitkin was far beyond the reach of friend or ally, the Fatherhood was always very careful to make sure of that. She had to assume he was experiencing more hallucinations than they desired.

"This behaviour is simply an extension of the saviour complex detailed within his evaluation."

She tried to sound reassuring, but it was an effort she couldn’t bring herself to fully make. She cared about the cause, about the result, but she didn’t care for their petty concerns.

“That was supposed to be expended on this Johs character. You must return him to the predicted path immediately. You must take control of the situation now!”

Natasha raised her eyebrows at the demand. She rolled her lips over her teeth, biting back the first retort that came to mind and breathing in slowly to settle her rising ire.

“The situation is still very much within my control.” She said through gritted teeth. “If at any point I feel it is not I will inform you without delay.”

There was ice in her tone. She knew it would likely go unnoticed, too wrapped up in their own concerns as they were, but if anyone listening had the intelligence to pick up on it she hoped it was noted.

“Until that time, consider this link to be one-way. I will contact you when there is an update worthy of report or our desired resolution has been reached. You’ve put your faith in the hands of professionals, so be content knowing the professionals are handling it. Or else feel free to come down here and get your own answers.”

“Your role is not-”

“Goodbye.”

She cut the transmission.

They made her want to scream with their self-importance and uneducated opinions. What she did was difficult. It took skill. It took patience and careful managing. If they thought they could do better they were welcome to try. Zealots, why were they so often blind to all but the importance of their own beliefs?

She unclenched her fists, flexing her fingers and rolling her head around to shake the anger out. She needed to concentrate.

Aitkin's behaviour was an anomaly that hadn't been predicted. His self-preservation had been graded far lower than his desire to save others, but still, this headlong charge into the face of death was unsettling. Either some external component was interfering or her evaluation had missed an important detail.

Determining how an individual would react in high-stress situations was what the evaluation was for. Everything leading up to this point was supposed to push him in a certain direction and despite her assurances, he was not following the route she had designed.

It was vexing.

Natasha leaned forward onto her desk and watched the viewing pane. Aitkin was attacking yet another guard, screaming wildly as he described a messy, unprofessional kill.

He was killing them all. That was outside the expected behaviour too. Given the choice of execute or subdue he was supposed to default to the non-lethal method as a first resort. He was supposed to show restraint.

Not one member of the Fatherhood’s security force he’d encountered so far had been left breathing. He wasn’t even being careful anymore.

She’d listened to him charge a pair of guards from twenty metres and dive into hand-to-hand combat when he could have chosen to pick them off from distance with his pistol. He could have taken an alternative route to skirt around them unseen, but to him, the idea of leaving a single soul alive in his wake was out of the question. 

If he died somewhere along his now unpredictable way, her work would be all the harder. They would have to start again and worse, she’d have to inform them of the reason for the delay. The thought of having to listen to more of their self-righteous drivel and i***t rantings was harder to swallow than accepting the idea she might fail.

She leaned in closer to the screen, seeing the wildness in his eyes, the flecks of spittle around his lips.

She was beginning to suspect something inside Aitkin had broken long before he ‘left' Mylus' chamber. It hadn't been apparent at the time, but his actions spoke of an unhinged psyche, a man with bloodlust driving his motives and colouring his decisions.

Natasha watched for a while longer. Aitkin was heading deeper into the Halls. Back to where he had started and further from her goal. He was supposed to be heading for the hangar, but his path kept spiralling down, deeper and deeper.

She needed to revisit the evaluation. She needed to feed in the new data and see how it’s shape changed, what kind of animal she was dealing with now. She needed to understand his intent so she could adapt her plans accordingly. She needed to do all of this, but with him dead set on his own destruction and the strange, inconsistent interruptions, she was unsure she would have the opportunity.

The Fatherhood didn't take kindly to failure. She was not a part of their number, but for Aitkin, she had taken on a pivotal part of his journey. If she failed to deliver she would hold no value for them. If someone knew about them but had no use, no value, then they only ever took one course of action to prevent that knowledge from spreading.

Natasha had seen what happened to those unfortunate souls who outlived their usefulness to the Fatherhood. It was a fate she didn’t relish seeing herself head towards. She might be separate, involved to represent another entity, but that didn’t matter to them. Everyone was the same to them. No one mattered.

If Aitkin continued to act outside his evaluation she couldn’t predict how he would respond. If she couldn’t do that then her value to the Fatherhood would drop significantly. It might be her goal they were pursuing, but it was their reputation she was gambling with. They did not take kindly to anyone who put their unblemished record in jeopardy.

There was another way to bring him back to the path. It was risky. Possibly more so than waiting to see if he corrected his own behaviour, but she was quickly realising that soon she would be left with no choice. If the prediction couldn’t be relied on then more direct methods were the only viable option.

The question was whether they’d let her do it? If she went to the Fathers with the proposition it was as likely they’d decide she had outlived her usefulness and she’d be right there in a chair just like Aitkin.

She wondered vaguely if he even knew what his motivations were at this point. She reached out a hand to the viewing pane and stroked the wild-eyed image of his face.

 “Aitkin you silly bastard,” she said softly with a sigh. “You really don’t want to make me come in there.”