Chapter 11
News from the Post-Tyrell
World
C-Span recording 3/28/22
Logged as evidence through
FBI team #12831, 3/31/27
Former FCA (Io Branch)
Department Head, Stephen Wauldron
Testimony before the
Tyrell estate dispersal committee
"Let me be clear on this:
It wasn't an
accident." Cameras flashed without remorse.
Wauldron looked in the
eyes of every senator
that was appointed to the investigation.
"Zhora had as much potential
for good as
any other Replicant on that base. What happened to her was an absolute disgrace
to both the FCA, and the Tyrell Corporation, but it wasn't an accident. Zhora
was sexually abused, re-modified with new programming as a means of covering it
up, and then sent back out into circulation with another batch of
Replicants."
"So...you are saying that
the Tyrell
Corporation is responsible for the incident that involved the little
girl." The senator leaned back into his chair, looking skeptically over
his glasses at Wauldron.
"Among other things...Yes."
A lot
of grumbling began to go back and forth between the senators. Tyrell's
involvement with Io had become a polarizing issue with many politicians. Some
felt that the Tyrell estate should be held for every penny lost after the
mutiny, while others strongly believed that the government failed itself, and
that the committee was nothing more than an IRS sponsored witch hunt, trying to
extract money it didn't earn. It had been a source of controversy for quite
some time now.
By this point, it was
nothing new to
Wauldron. The public's view of himself, or the FCA altogether, was nothing to
envy, either. What did irk him, though, was using the memory of co-worker's
daughter, a patient which he did like as a person, despite the occasional
trouble she caused. Wauldron found it both appalling and haunting all at once.
Years of being questioned by committee after committee, and interview after
interview, all of which asked him the same questions over and over, to which he
gave the same answer, over and over, finally got to him. If you’re going to
blow up, Stephen, he mused to
himself, might as well do it while the cameras are rolling.
Leaning back in his chair,
Wauldron scanned
their faces to remember this moment for years to come. This one’s for you,
Sarah Baker.
“This committee is
worthless.”
A couple of senators
slowly stood up in their chairs. One of the more conservative female senators
began tapping her water glass, making one of the senators begin to sit
down.
“Mr. Wauldron, I must
remind you that this committee is NOT being investigated for -”
“Maybe it should. What I
am telling you, and everyone watching this circus, is that some of the same
senators on this committee signed off on the creation of Replicants, and some
of them signed off onto the idea of dissolving the FCA before it had a chance
to properly do its job. A lot of people here had their hands in the pot, and
didn’t care about the results, or the consequences of those decisions.”
“Again, MR. WAULDRON, THIS
COMMITTEE -”
“Worthless. Completely
worthless. Not worth a nickel in Chinese money.” He began to point to
individuals on the committee. “Senator Janklow, you know what I am talking
about it. Your signature was on those orders. How about you, Miss Noem? Or you,
Senator Barbatos? How much did you guys get in return? How much did you payoff
to keep everyone else happy, or at least quiet?”
“The committee is
requesting that Mr. Wauldron’s comments be stricken from the testimonial
records-”
Wauldron chuckled a bit.
“I’ll bet it would. But
I have a feeling a lot of taxpayers will be interested in hearing those
answers. A lot of Replicants wouldn’t mind hearing the truth behind what
happened on Io as well. What are you going to tell them when they ask? Will you
sponsor another committee, fund another project, and tell your voters at
re-election time that only your way will solve the problem ?!?” The cameras
caught jaws dropping, or frustrated glances from politicians.
Wauldron knew the cork
was off the bottle
now. “Sorry. Guess I was asking questions this committee can’t answer. But even
the simplest minded person has the capacity for truth, at some level. Maybe
someone here would have the courage to answer one question honestly, seeing as
how the news media has gone to all the effort.
Who authorized the mission
on Orion’s belt?”
The cameras began to focus
more on the panel. Some senators kicked back in their chairs and smiled, with a
look of We can't wait to hear THIS
on their faces, while others began to scoff and complain to their aides.
Wauldron remained very resolved in getting an answer.
"WHO AUTHORIZED THE
MISSION ON ORION'S BELT ?!?"
Then senators began to
rise from their chairs, some leaving the panel. Security began to come down the
hallway behind Wauldron. The head of the committee got up and started talking
in a loud voice. "Professor Wauldron, this panel finds you in
CONTEMPT. Security, remove him, and
remove his comments from the record."
There were some activists
in the room that began to cheer for Wauldron. He kept yelling about Orion's
belt and about how Replicants were being treated on Io, but noticed that they
were yelling, holding up signs, and some were applauding the things Wauldron
was trying to point out. As the security detail dragged him out, he turned and
looked over to see a face that he hadn't seen in a long time.
Instructor Foster. One of
the civilian instructors that he'd worked with off and on, on Io.
Foster looked directly
into Wauldron's eyes. Like Wauldron's, Foster's hair showed gray streaks, and
his skin looked a lot thinner, as well. The years after Io had not been
kind. Wauldron tried to say something,
but the noise covered up any attempt to talk, and the security detail was not
letting up for a moment as they dragged him along.
Foster gave a slow nod at
Wauldron, then turned back to the panel, yelling and screaming louder, stomping
his sign into the floor to make more noise. The camera made an attempt to focus
on Foster, but then snapped back towards the panel as they tried to hold onto
control of the floor.
_______________________________________________
Sarah lay glumly in the base
hospital bed. She glanced over at the clock, which emitted a message of 23:07,
well past any visiting hours. Her father had been over earlier, and the nurses
had let him stay well past the deadline, but as Jupiter’s huge nighttime
outline filled the window, they politely got him to leave. There was really
nothing he could do anyway–outside of keeping her company. And he definitely
wasn’t patient enough to learn how to play chess.
She cursed herself for being
so stupid, for
not listening to her father, or to Roy. Roy.
She thought. How am I going to apologize to him for all of this
?!? How am I going to apologize to the blonde Replicant, or the Redheaded one
that defended her ?!? Or Professor Wauldron? Or Dad? The shame of it all
was more painful than being in the hospital, as far as Sarah was concerned. It
was beginning to sink in, all the times that the FCA therapists had been warned
her about being very careful around the Replicants.
She turned the television,
which was showing
a game show with a host dressed up a huge costume. A rather obese woman jumped
up and down over winning a new car,
while the other contestants, a man dressed up in a funny hat, and a
rather conservatively dressed woman clapped half-heartedly for her. Sarah
wiggled her finger on the remote control of the hospital bed frame, which was
about the limits of her physical motion at this point, shutting it off while
the lady thanked Jesus and everyone else on the planet.
“This sucks. Homework
is more exciting.” She quietly muttered to herself.
She hit the controls on her
hospital bed
which moved her closer to the clothes drawer which held her schoolbooks. She
hit a lever which extended a small metal arm and began reaching for her books.
It clumsily grabbed a book, and then as it dragged on some papers underneath,
dropping it on the floor.
“Crap.” Sarah
looked out of the dimly lit
room, where she could see the nurse, a rather staunch, mean looking woman that
Sarah did not want to bother. The nurse looked towards the direction of the
noise coming from Sarah’s room, then looked back towards her console as a light
flashed, indicating a problem in another room. She looked back towards Sarah’s
room.
“Are you okay, Sarah.?”
“Yeah. I just can’t
sleep, that’s all.”
“Well, try. I need
to check on another
patient. I will be right back.”
“Okay.” Sarah
briefly began to hope that the
nurse would take her time, or at least long enough for her to find a loud music
channel on the television. Bring some life into this museum, Sarah mused
to herself.
Sarah’s attention went
back to her fallen
schoolbook. She tried to manipulate the arm to recover the book, but wasn’t
having any luck. It picked up the book, but would drop it after reaching a
certain height. Then her back pain kicked in ... and for a second Sarah thought
to hell with the book.
As she looked back down towards
the book, she
noticed a shadow of a person coming down the hallways. The footsteps were much
quieter than the nurse’s, and the shadow seemed much bigger. Sarah quietly
watched, thinking to herself, It must be a doctor. Visitors at this time?!?
She’d gotten
used to the hospital routine by this point, and this certainly wasn’t part of
it.
All of a sudden, Roy darted
around the door
and into Sarah’s room.
“Roy ?!? What are you
doing here?!?” She
glanced down the hall towards the nurse's desk. Roy slipped around the edge of
the door, hiding in the darkness of Sarah's room. He looked up at Sarah's and
put his finger to his lips, trying to get Sarah to lower her voice.
"Now
I'm really in trouble..." Sarah quietly declared to herself, trying to
look down the hallway. She could hear the footsteps of the nurse coming back
down the hall. Sarah began to panic a little, but instantly went into her
self-natured mode of skirting trouble. If you can sneak out to the vidgame
park at one a.m.... Sarah told herself, you can keep Roy out of sight
for ten minutes. She quickly hit the remote for the TV, with the game show's
credits rolling on the screen.
"How are you feeling?" Roy
asked,
looking very excited. Sarah looked down the hall at the Nurse who was now
stomping towards her room. Sarah waved two fingers at Roy, who cocked an ear
towards the hallway and quietly slipped behind the door, his tall figure
disappearing in its shadow. The Nurse walked hurriedly into the room and walked
right past the door without even noticing Roy, who kept his eyes intently on
her back. Sarah's face was beginning to pale a bit.
"Sarah,
how many times do I have to tell
you about the volume of the TV?" She crammed on the button to crank it
down. "We've got people that are trying to sleep, and need their peace and
quiet."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean
to wake anyone
up." Peace and quiet. Yeah, right. Like you clomping around like one of
my teachers is quiet. "But if it's okay, can I turn it to a music
station? I'll keep the volume down." Roy knew instantly what Sarah was
doing; She was using the noise from the TV as cover so they could talk. He
patiently watched for the Nurse's reaction.
"Well, okay. But just for
a little
while." The Nurse walked right out of the room, almost kicking the book on
the floor. Sarah waited until she was down the hall, then turned on the channel
to a random music station, and cranked the volume down.
Sarah hit a button on the
bed's remote,
dimming the lights down, and then turned the TV to a music channel. She began
to speak in a low whisper. "Roy...what are you doing here? You could get
in big trouble for just being here! I'm gonna get it for you being
here!!"
Roy looked confused for a
second, but then
excited. "I had to know if you would recover. They wouldn't tell me
anything. I am sorry if this bothers you."
"Bother me? No, Roy...
it's good
to see you. But, I just don't want to get into any more trouble." Sarah's
guilt sank in from not listening to Roy. "I hope I didn't get you into
trouble, I tried telling my Dad and the police that it wasn't your fault. What
did they do?"
"They questioned me for a
little while,
and told me that they were taking you to the hospital. Then they sent me back
to the base. Instructor Frey had me pull some light duty, washing dishes and
restocking the pantry. But, after that told me to return back to my quarters for
the night, I just couldn’t get to sleep."
"Washing dishes...Roy, I'm
sorry. I am
so sorry. What happened to the Replicant that kicked me?"
"I'm not sure. They got all
of the other
Replicants away from her, and then sent her over to the FCA. Instructor Frey
was really upset when he heard. But he told me he thought that Professor
Wauldron might be able to help her, and find out why she kicked you. I
overheard the doctors at the FCA say that they believe something is wrong with
her."
Sarah, feeling both guilty
and back pain
medication, began to look a little glum.
"No. I was the one who
messed up, not her."
"Zhora."
"Who?"
"Zhora. Her name is Zhora.
Instructor
Frey told me. I hope you're not upset with her."
"Oh, no. Wish I could tell
her it was my
fault. I am so sorry, Roy."
"Maybe I can tell her for
you."
Sarah double checked down
the hall at the
Nurse, who would occasionally look away from her desk towards Sarah's room.
Roy looked down at the floor
at Sarah's
schoolbook. He quietly and gracefully picked it up and put in on the tray
beside her bed. "She might understand it better coming from another
Replicant."
This put Sarah at ease for
the moment. Her
attention turned elsewhere. "What else is going on?"
Roy
looked a little confused, as if he was going to say something he shouldn't, but
decided to say it anyway. "There have been a lot of new shuttles arriving
at the landing docks. They look like large transports, but they are heavily
armed. They say that we might be using them for some kind of Off-world training
mission very soon. They made us run drills today getting on and off of them,
wearing full gear." Sarah tried to keep up with what Roy was saying, but
something else was still on the back of her mind.
"Did you get to meet the
lady Replicant,
the blonde one that you like?"
Roy's eyes began to glow.
It was a little
eerie at first, but Sarah could tell it was just Roy's way of being happy.
"Yes. Her name is Pris. That
was why I
had to see you, so that I could tell you. I thought you would like to
know."
Hearing this did make Sarah
smile a little. Roy,
in all the confusion, had managed to overcome his shyness enough to learn her
name. Sarah felt proud of herself for at least getting that much accomplished.
"How badly have you been
injured? How
long will it take you to recover?" Roy inquired. To Sarah, Roy's speech
felt a little computer-ish at times, but she could tell he was becoming more human
all the time. But here he was, taking a risk, just so he could check on her
and tell her he'd gotten Pris's name! As goofy as Roy could be sometimes, she
just didn't want to let him down.
"I shouldn't be in the hospital
too
long. The doctor said I'll have to wear a brace for a while, maybe a year. They
are still making me do my homework, can you believe that ?!?" Sarah was
lying. Her back had taken a huge hit, and the doctors were very unsure if it
would completely recover.
Down the hall, she began
to hear the clomp-clomp-clomp
of the Nurse's footsteps coming down briskly towards her room. Sarah turned
back to Roy, who quietly ducked into the closet on the other side of the room.
The Nurse charged into the
room. "I
think it's time you take your medication, and try and get some more sleep, Miss
Baker." The nurse began to stomp out of the room, and then stopped by the
door. She looked at Sarah, then quickly opened and looked behind the entrance
door, expecting to find hospital contraband, or maybe one of Sarah's friends
from school, trying to pull some prank. She swung it open only to find nothing.
The Nurse stared at the wall
behind the door
for a second, looked over at the closet door on the other side, then slowly
turned to walk away from the room and noticed that Sarah's book was no longer
on the floor. She looked up and noticed it on Sarah's tray, and then back to
Sarah as if to demand an explanation. Sarah quickly waved the arm of the bed
with the remote. The Nurse shook her head a little, dismissing the mystery of
how the book got from the floor to Sarah's tray.
As the Nurse marched back
out of the room,
Sarah articulated the metal hand of the arm into one middle finger, aiming it
at the Nurse's back. She then turned to closet that Roy was hiding himself in,
only to find the door was open and the closet was empty. He'd managed to slip
out as quietly as he had
arrived.
_______________________________________________
As Roy snuck back into the
Replicants' barracks, he patiently waited for the security cameras to turn away
just enough for him to slip through. He'd been testing the outer perimeters for
some time, like a lot of Replicants, but many often turned back rather than go
anywhere off base without permission.
He then winced as he heard
a familiar
squawking sound. Jacob. He turned to see Daniel sitting there holding Jacob on
his shoulder.
"Instructor Frey..."
Daniel waved his arm, which
Roy could see was
holding a half empty bottle that had the words Jack Daniel across it.
"It's okay, Roy." His speech was a little slurred. Daniel wasn't
completely drunk yet, but was working on it.
"You went to see her, didn't
you?"
"She is my friend." Roy had
never
seen Daniel in this condition before. This was something new.
Daniel nodded understandingly.
"It's
good to have friends." He looked back to Jacob, and gave him a treat.
"I had to see her. They would
not tell
me anything after they had sent me back to base. They said I didn't need to know,
because..."
"Because you was a Replicant.."
Daniel finished, his speech slurring a little more. He took another small drink,
then offered the tip of the bottle to Jacob, who turned his head away, as if
disgusted by the notion.
"I do apologize for my behavior.
I know
I have broken several codes, and will submit–"
Daniel waved him off mid
sentence. "Don't
worry about it. I'll tell them I had you run some extra drills or something. Go
check in, get some rack time. You'll need it, before tomorrow."
"Instructor Frey, why are
you out here? You
never exercise Jacob at night."
Daniel smiled. "Who told
you never? You
guys must be sneaking out here a lot. Good thing I decided to take a nighttime
stroll." He looked back to the
landing strip. "I wanted to get a better look at those." He
pointed towards the landing field, where combat shuttles were being lined up
side by side, with Replicants working like crazy to get them loaded with gear.
He looked back to Roy.
"Listen, you need to get
back to your
bunk." Daniel looked back towards the landing field. "But I need you
to promise me that you won't sneak out again."
"Yes sir." Roy headed back
to the
barracks."Thank you."
Daniel took another drink
as he watched the
shuttles. He extended his arm, letting Jacob fly around some more. His thoughts
went back and forth from the shuttles, and then back towards Roy. He cares
for this little girl. He (It?) honestly cares. And to think they told us
Replicants would be heartless, unsympathetic machines that would just follow
orders. So much for that little theory. Jacob came flying back with a
resounding yelp, quite proud of himself for making such a graceful landing on
his owner's arm. Daniel looked back towards the shuttles. He looked at the
boxes, and noticed live ammunition being loaded up. This was a little unusual,
as far as military training exercises went, but not completely uncommon. But
then another load showed up, which he recognized as boxes of mining gear. Why
are they loading the mining gear? The mining operations were just an exercise
for the Replicants. Most of the material they extracted was simply used as
landfill around the base.
_______________________________________________