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Spectre: Shades of Grey
Chapter 14 A Comics Retcon Story |
It had been almost two weeks since we'd taken down the 'Barbie Chip' operation and the mole thing the people who used those chips were doing.
The smoke had cleared, the abomnination we had set out to get rid of was well gone.
But not all the news was good.
“I'm afraid that half of the girls we rescued just couldn't deal with what they'd become.” Doris told all of us gathered in the warehouse she and Lena called home. “fifty percent of them just curled up, ignored everything, and starved themselves to death, or are in the process of doing that. Nothing anyone tries brings them out of it, either and we have some of the best minds in psychology working on this.”
“As abused, psychologically, and physically as they are,” I sighed. “I think that fifty percent on the survival rate is good. I saved others before we got the lot of them loose, and that rate is about what I managed even with what mind manipulation I'm capable of.”
“We can't get the chips out of them.” Doris nodded. “Or change what happened to them. Those damned chips are just too intrusive, they took over too much of the victim's nervous systems. Even trying to alter that would be fatal for them.”
“The nano proceedure that made them into females isn't reversable, either.” Kyle put in. “I've had survivors, and dead ones scanned aboard The Jordan, and there is just no way to reverse the physical changes. Adding an extra leg to a Y chromosome to make it an X is a lot easier than pulling one of the legs off an existing X crhomosome. Jade's people have confirmed that. The girls we saved are stuck as they are. Trying to change that would only result in a nasty, painful death for them.”
“The good news here is,” Doris smiled a little hesitiantly, “is that the remotes to control the chips worked on a very rare frequency that couldn't be duplicated without knowing what you wanted to do. So TV remotes or garage door openers won't affect the girls.”
“And,” Michael Harris added. “The ones who survive are being given new identies, even new faces if they want that. So no one will ever know that they were chip slaves.”
“Unless that someone has access to your data base.” Lena pointed out.
“Covered.” Harris grinned. “I'm hiring you to purge all that information from government systems once we get the girls placed.”
“Really?” Lena asked then grinned. “I get to play in government computers without the risk of being arrested?”
“Just to purge the information we've been talking about.” Harris chuckled. “And don't even think of back doors or saving stuff you shouldn't have. We have computer people that are just as good as you are, Ms. Luthor.”
She pouted for a few seconds, then laughed. “Okay. You know I love a challenge.”
“Me, too.” Harris chuckled wryly. “Otherwise I wouldn't have been involved in this mess in the first place.”
I watched them, my friends. Friends.
That one still kind of boggled me. I had friends who actually cared for me. Friends who didn't care that I was the god's vengeance incarnate. Oh, they were still giving me those very carefully hidden looks when they thought I wasn't watcing. You know the kind, where someone is wondering if thier friend is going to do something stupid, or hurt someone because of something stupid. And they all still let their awe show at times, too. Dammit.
But they were my friends.
And that simple thing was worth more to me than anything we'd accomplished together up to then.
“You are deserving of thier friendship, daughter.” Tisiphone's voice told me gently. “You have earned it, and shown them that you would do for them what they would do for you.”
“Okay, MOTHER.” I answered then asked. “So what are you getting out of it all?”
“Simple enough, daughter.” She answered. “Through you, I learn what is to be human. The gods who pay attention these days are envious of me in that, and you are the reason.”
“Are you sure you aren't a goddess who is just pulling my chain?”
“Not yet, dear one.” She answered with a chuckle. “But I am close now, thanks to you and your friends."
Then she left. Dammit. Can I ever get the last word in? At least once?
Guess that's just part of dealing with a goddess in training. Sigh.
“Daina?” Megan prodded me with a finger. “Are you still with us here?”
“Oh, yeah.” I shook myself. “Just having a talk with Mama there. Sorry if I spaced out on all of you. What did I miss?”
“Nothing at all.” Jean grinned. “We just wanted to poke you and see if you reacted. Without trying to kill everything in sight.”
“That little 'eeek' you let out was kinda cute.” Kyle grinned.
“Oh, you guys are sooo funny.” I grimaced then had to laugh.
“We try, Diana.” Jean smirked.
“Don't quit your day jobs.” I snorted.
Mitsuko and Samira had blossomed. They were still staying in Deena's apartment and didn't wish to go anywhere else. Oh, maybe to another apartment in the building, but it was clear they'd both found a home. In the slightly run down apartment building and in the less than savory neighborhood it was in.
Go figure.
The people where I lived as Deena had simply gathered the pair in, closed ranks, and made them part of the family.
“I've lived in places that were a lot better for surroundings.” Samira told me once I got back from the meeting. “But never one that was better for community. I've only been here a few weeks and I already love the people here.”
“I want my baby to grow up with these people.” Mitsuko put in while patting her belly. “They have values they hold to, and don't abandon their own no matter how difficult that may be.”
And yes, I'd at least been able to give Mitsuko back the ability to speak English properly. Now she was learning Spanish, and Portugese.
Wow. That woman is amazing.
Both of them would need jobs, and other things, but those were incidentals when compared to what they'd found in this often dangerous, dirty neighborhood. I think they both were actually learning how to live a life that they weren't ashamed of.
And that was a good thing.
But Mitsuko still had to confront her own demon.
“Are you sure you really want to do this?” I questioned the delicate, very pregnant Asian beauty as we stood outside a heavy door in the very secure confinement facility her former husband was being held in.
“We've been over this before, Diana.” She smiled at me and gave me an encouraging pat on the arm. “I have to do this. You know that as well as I do.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. I don't think I had as much raw courage or determination in me as that lady has in her little finger. And she is a lady. In the old sense of the word.
“Then stop fussing at me and let me do this.” She told me. “I won't be free, really free, until I do what must be done. You know that.”
“I'll wait out here.” I nodded. “And won't hover over you in there. You do what you need to do.”
“Thank you, Ghost girl.” She smiled and touched my cheek. “You have done so much for me, and others, but there are some things that one must do themselves.”
“Yes, there are.” I nodded and took her into a hug. “You've helped teach me that in case you didn't know.”
“Then my life hasn't been a waste, has it?” She returned the hug and smiled at me.
“Never has been, never will be.” I assured her then set a hand to the plate by the door to open it. “So go do this. I'll be in later to handle the rest.”
I didn't hover, though that was hard.
I did, however, watch things on one of the monitors that were close by. Just in case, you understand.
“Hello, Clark.” She greeted the prisoner once the door had closed behind her.
The man, her former 'husband' looked at her and nodded but said nothing in response.
“What?” She questioned softly. “You have nothing to say to the mother of your child? The woman who was your wife?”
“Why are you even here?” He asked bitterly. “You're free now. I'm not. Did you come to gloat?”
“Oh, no.” Mitsuko shrugged. “Oh I wanted to make you feel pain like I have, wanted to let you experience the futility of being a thing that is fit for nothing but contempt. But when the time came for that, I just couldn't do it. Not even to you.”
“So why are you here?”
“To see you one last time.” She answered slowly. “To show you that in spite of all you and others did, that I am still a person of worth, someone who can live a real life.
“Someone who will not do to others what was done to her.”
“So you're here to tell me that you're better than I am, is that it, Mitsuko?”
“That.” She nodded with a smile though her eyes were hard and unforgiving. “And to let you know that your child will never know a thing about you. You'll just be the donor of the sperm that caused her to be. I won't ever tell her who you were, or what you did. That is all the mercy I will show you.”
“I was good to you, Mitsuko.” He answered. “Probably better than I should have been. But I did come to love you.”
“Love?” She snorted. “What do you know of that beyond your own twisted idea of possession being love? I am not a thing to be owned, Clark. No one is. So your professions of love are just a little late, don't you think?
“I took care of you, I protected you, kept you from the worst of things, you know.”
“At what cost?” She questioned. “To you? I know what the cost was to me. You did nothing to help me. Nothing.”
He didn't respond and she moved to stand in front of him. Then gently took one of his hands and set it to her belly. “Say hello and goodbye to your daughter, Clark. She will never be what you meant for me to be, or face the future you planned for her.
“Good bye, Clark.” She moved away from him and touched the door plate to let those outside know that she was finished. “Though I doubt any god would countenance what you've done. There are others who have things to say to you, do to you. They'll be here in a few minutes. You really aren't much of a demon after all.”
I held her as she cried after that.
Again, she had humbled me.
And the others who had been watching.
I entered the cell, carrying two syringes and a small box.
“Clark Fortuna.” I greeted him while holding the syringes so he could see them. “You know what these are, don't you?
And this, I'm sure you're familiar with.” I added opening the box to show him the chip nestled in a bed of foam. “I can insert the chip without all that messy surgery you know.”
He paled, and actually looked terrified.
“This one, as you know,” I held up the syringe filled with a cloudy reddish fluid, “is the prep for having the chip inserted, the way that lets part of someone's nervous system be removed and replaced with something foriegn to the body.
This one.” I showed him the other syringe with it's sapphire blue contents. “Is the nanos that will cause the physical changes, to make you into the slave, the female slave, that the chip is going to program you to be.”
He just watched me, sweating, in terror.
“What, nothing to say about it just now?” I asked. “I'm sure some of your victims at least tried to fight things before you had them changed. Are they stronger than you are?”
“You can't do that, you won't do that.”
“Oh, I can and I will.” I answered then glared at him in my full fury form. “I am vengeance incarnate mortal. The only ones I answer to are the gods. I can do anything I please with you.
“But I'm giving you a choice.” I favored him with an evil smile. “Which is more than you allowed your victims.
“I'm not going to force you to take these things.” I told him. “I'll leave them here and see what you do. Inject yourself and spend the rest of your life as a helpless, abused slave, or not and die. How badly do you want to live? What would you do just to stay alive? Because you're looking at a death sentence. Without trial, without appeal. Either use these things on yourself or die.
“I'll let you think about that for awhile.” I grinned at him as I was leaving. “But don't think too long. The offer has a time limit.”
“You know,” Special Agent Michael Harris told me once I'd left the prisoner. “you're scarier when you're calm.”
“Part of my charm, Mike.” I shrugged.
“What do you think he'll do?”
“I don't really care.” I answered simply. “He's already going through the Hell I wanted him to feel. The rest is, as they say, the luck of the draw.”
Harris, Mitsuko, Megan, Jean, Kyle, Doris, all looked at me for a few moments, then almost in unison, nodded.
Comments
A dish best served cold
So many heart that Star Trek Klingon curse, "Revenge is a dish best served cold." and think how cool (No pun intended!) it sounds. However, it's about coldly and deliberately destroying your enemy. That is exactly what I felt reading that last paragraph "You're scarier when you're calm." Once again you showed us that the heart and soul of Spectra is greater than all the mighty powers she has at her command.
Hugs!
Grover
Yes.
I never said Diana was nice person. A good person, yes, but you don't have to be nice to be good.
Maggie
Ewww
Eww... she's even more cruel than before. The first time it was her choice to make someone a mindslave, now she gives it to the guy. I have no sympathies for this bastard, but this is a bit hard. I don'T know if I had the guts to do either thig... killing myself or choosing to become a female mindslave. I guess I'd just wait and see.
But then, I'd never do something that cruel in the first place. In this case I'd say: kill him and let the gods sort it out.
Thank you for writing this awesome story.
Beyogi
Do you know
that for sure? "Cause all I know for sure is that she left him with a couple of hypos she said were the drugs to change him, and showed him something in a box that looked like one of the chips. Doesn't mean they are real. I think they are not, and this is just her way of insuring that he gets a taste of what he did to others.
* * *
"Girls are like pianos, when they're not upright they're grand!" Benny Hill
Karen J.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Given her nature.
That was always there, by the way even when she was male, yes Diana can be very cruel. The Greek Furies were, and at this point I don't think Diana is 'A Fury in Training' any longer.
Does she regret her cruelties later? Sure. But she has parts of her nature that were basically imposed on her to achieve what she is now.
And the gods did sort it out. Through her.
Maggie
Living well is the best revenge
As the quote goes "living well is the best revenge" with Mitsuko doing just that it seems. I like that she remains the most optimistic outcome from the plan, with her love for her unborn child giving her the strength to adapt and grow. The dilema at the end for Clark was well done and I like that we don't get to see his choice.
Overall, a good - if sometimes hard to read - story throwing up some interesting questions on justice and vengeance and the relationship between the two. Thank you for the story Maggie!
"Just once I want my life to be like an 80's movie, preferably one with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason. But no, no, John Hughes did not direct my life."
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
Mitsuko.
Was the surprise character in this story. I hadn't planned for her be so... Important to the story when I started her. And yes, she will live well, and find happiness.
What Clark was left with to decide on is a classic. Like The Lady and the Tiger, or a Hobson's choice. Neither choice is a guaranteed positive thing. He didn't deserve more.
Maggie
Spectre: Shades of Grey Chapter 14
Nice wrap up.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Thanks.
Just, thanks, Stan. This was a really hard story to write. Just as hard is was to read, I think. I did my best to tie up loose ends in this chapter.
Maggie
Why do I believe that none
Why do I believe that none of those present would actually force Clark to become a mindslave should he take that choice. Oh, he would go through the process, but after the transformation was over, the slavery aspect would be eliminated like it was with Samira. Of course he doesn't know that.
Why don't you believe that they would make another Chip Slave?
Oh, maybe because you've been paying attention to the characters and their reactions to all that? I'll still leave you, and other readers to make their own endings for Clark. The point I wanted to make that he could have what he did to others done to him, or he would die. Whether that would happen if he took the injections and the chip is something I'm not going to tell. Or if they were fake or not.
Justice can be cruel in the extreme at times. And it doesn't always involve real physical pain or change.
Maggie
Well ended
That was a really good ending. Interesting choice she gave him. What do you think he chose?
What Clark chooses...
Isn't so important in my thoughts, and the simple fact that he was presented the choice. And left to make his own decision.
Maggie
Very liberal of her
... actually.
I am finding a metaphor in this story somewhere.
She at least has more compassion than those bought and paid for politicians like those conservatives out there who think to take away funding from anything that is education or human service related so they can keep their damn tax cuts to the business lobby. I mean I came across an April article where the conservative Republicans in Topeka who tried to ram through last minute changes to take out over 150 million dollars from education and social programs such that the legislature would not have time to review it properly.
Point is, now that I think about it, those who have the drive to take away our dignity and consideration of our human needs in the name of some mindless adherence to their preset goals and imposition of their social 'values' are scarier. God knows what they would think of 'deviants' like us.
The chippers may very well be a metaphor for such people as they would gladly lie and cheat to get to their goal since the end justifies the means in their minds and just 'know' it will make us happier; we just don't know it yet.
Kim
Ditto. and I agree, they likely won't make HER a mindslave
The chip may be real or not and are the drugs/nanos real? All that matters is Clark BELIEVES they are real. Still transforming him into that which he felt was weak and worthy of subjugation would be an *old school* punishment. IE make him into that which he dispised most. And maybe even that bastard is redeemable.
Only 50 percent to the recued are coping, the rest are dying or trying to? Very sad. No other way to help save them?
HUM? Star Sapphire rings anyone? If anyone is a candidate for the Sapphires these victims are it in spades. Oh Jade!
Hum, can't the chip's *receiver* be disabled somehow without damaging the overall function of the chip? Or encryption added to make it very hard to hijack one of the victims ever again? It might be good to have the ability to reprogram. Programs can get corrupted over time. Exposure to cosmic rays and radio nucleotide decay have caused computer glitches in the past. Plus maybe as a partial compensation for what they lost the chips might be used to help the victims learn new skills, built in speed learning as it were. IE the chips might be used to give them a better life albeit not the life they once had before the transformations.
I also wonder, if the nanos and chip can take over key parts of the nervous system why can't they be used to reverse the damage. IE design special nanos that slowly disassemble the artificial nerves while encouraging normal nerves to grow in to replace them. Would be a slow process to avoid killing them but it might work. Think of the special nanos as highway rebuilding crews with temporary bypasses in place while the old highway is removed to make room for the new road.
The DNA changes are more complex but might be solvable as well though the time frame for that is a problem. Would it come soon enough to be of any usefulness? But just undoing the damage and potential threat of the chip being hijacked would do much for the victims'' confidence.
Just my two cents, Maggie.
John in Wauatosa
P.S. I agree the chips and DNA transformation can be seen as an allegory to the nasty vision of politics we are seeing of late. But I won't go there.
Um, Specter? You got any more of those chips and *juice*? I've got a few in my state that might need a *fresh perspective* as it were.
John in Wauwatosa
Wrong place
Really, the comments section of another author's story is not a good place to start a political discussion. Besides, we don't know the party affiliation of the baddies at the top, so it's all guess-work
* * *
"Girls are like pianos, when they're not upright they're grand!" Benny Hill
Karen J.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
It's just a metaphor
... but if the political shoe fits. *shrug*
The point is these chip folks wanted control, lock stock and barrel. There are crazies in certain political parties ( whoever they are ) who would LOVE to remake people in their beliefs. People like us.
It's the sad part of human nature. That is all.
Kim
I agree, Karen.
Thanks to all who have commented, and I'm glad my story has generated some really interesting ones. And yes, Kimmie, I know your post was a comparison as opposed to a statement.
Anyway, thank you all for your comments, and the interesting discussions this story has generated.
Maggie
Mitsuko
"Again, she had humbled me."
Me too. Well said.
Dorothycolleen
Thank you for sharing this great story with us
I think "Spectre" was good at all levels. On the outside, nice action and suspense, but if one looks deeper, also an excellent tale about the people and how they change under the pressure of dealing with the chip slavers.
First of all, Diana of course. I think she has grown quite a bit as a person, but not only towards being nicer. On one hand, she has learned mercy while dealing with Samira. On the other hand, her style of revenge has become more sophisticated and terrible too. A very interesting character that does not fall into one of the common cliches :-)
Perfect Ending
This was the perfect ending to a perfect story.
Chilling...
...but right.
Clark deserved nothing less.
Thanks for writing Maggie, I was never a huge fan of the spectre and knew very little about the underlying mythos, so it's a testament to your writing skills that you've managed to grip me throughout this tale.
Well written! :-D
Love the story. :)
Love the story. :)
I'll have to say this again.
This is better written than the actual characters series. I loved how it ended, and It's right up there with when Nikki/Fey dances the fire.
Bailey Summers
Shades of Grey
Great Galloping Jebus Maggie! that was so satisfying i read it end to end over the course of three hours. Your writing has the stellar ability to draw a person into the story, an ability i first noticed when i read the Heaven & Hell stories at Sapphire's. i was too shy or stupid then to leave comments, i didn't understand what it was like for a writer then. After my novel was published, but severely undermarketed, i fell into a writers coma that it took Lilith Langtree and her retcon universe to break. Now thanks to the writers here, i'm two chapters into my own tale and working on the third...when i can pry myself away from reading *giggles*.
Thank you, Thank you Lilith, Thanks EOF, Thanks Misty, Thanks Lynceus, Thanks Cliff, Thanks Danielle, Thanks Valentine, Thanks Mittfh, Thanks Sleethr, Thanks Stanman63, Thanks Drakira, Thanks Maid Joy, Thanks Freya, Thanks Erin, Thanks Jessica, Thanks cindilee, Thanks Bethany, Thanks Starbuck, Thanks Marymeet27, Thanks Dorothy, Thanks Smallburnything, & Thanks Amy.
You have all worked so hard to give us a Fantastic, complex, interwoven universe.
Thanks for letting me play.
Diana
Just bloody brilliant.
A great story, masterfully (mistressfully?) told and brought to a more than fulfilling end.
Just fucking great! Anything else I might say would be damning you with faint praise.
Cathy
As a T-woman, I do have a Y chromosome... it's just in cursive, pink script.
verry verry verry good
thanks for this one
she is my fav superhero
erik je
Maggie,
I just finished reading your Spectre: Shades of Grey story and I have to say that I'm very impressed with it. I liked how you developed Diana's character and Mitsuko's and Samira's characters as well. I hope that some day your muse will inspire you to write some more stories about Diana/Deena/Spectre adventures. I'm currently working my way thru reading all of the stories that you have posted here on BCTS. I really enjoy your writing style and look foreword to reading any new stories that you may come up with in the future. May your muse continue to inspire your writing.
Hugs,
Tamara Jeanne