“We’re standing at a crossroads gentlemen.” Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (D.I.A), 3-Star General TreKell Howard, said to a given amount of board members at a meeting concerning a certain rogue element. “The way I see it, we have two options: We either take our chances and give Cerberus Team additional objectives or we send in an operative who is capable of dealing with the situation in a quiet manner.”
He had been sitting at the opposite side of the table with his fingers between his nose bridge, eyes closed. He had been listening to them deliberate on the situation at hand without saying a word. He liked to be the one at the table who listened to the position of others grandstanding before he spoke up. But this, Deputy Director Lieds took a second, before folding his hands together. Hands interlocked in a position of thought before speaking calmly, eyes open.
“Is this our future reputation?” Lieds asked the Director of Defense, “Designing projects that ultimately spell doom for all of all living kind, metahuman or not.” Lieds gave a few looks at the other board members, “And then abandoning them because we think this is the better future for all. Everyone will know some way or another what we had done. Killing him or capturing him. There’s no saving our asses from this. We lose the trust of everyone either way.” Lieds cleared his throat, “You have yourself a nuclear bomb with a pair of legs that used them to walk away. We were already criticized for the assistance in the creation of a real nuclear bomb. We’ll be criticized for this. But we didn’t destroy the nuclear bomb. We put him in a safe and locked away. The way we should do with Project Ifrit.”
Director Howard immediately looks up from his petty squabbles with the two other members, “Deputy Director Lieds.. You’ve been an invaluable asset to Project Ifrit, however we cannot afford to allow him to exist knowing how dangerous he is. To keep a ‘walking nuclear bomb’ in high containment will only spell even further doom. I do realize that Project Ifrit was our response to the Metahuman situation, but we didn’t realize how deadly he is. He can adapt to any threat, Metahuman or otherwise.. Do you understand how he got out in the first place Deputy Director?”
Lieds looked at Howard with a sideway glance, it wasn’t disrespectful for someone of a higher position. But in this current situation it seemed that ranks no longer matter and each one of them was an equal trying to figure out what to do.
“From what I recall,” Lieds paused, “He wasn’t in a highly secured facility to begin with. With the guards we had on post, someone must have known they couldn’t withstand the power of a grown metahuman. That was a failure on realizing on how a, created, metahuman's abilities would grow. Beyond that, killing him makes those men’s death worth nothing. At least by capturing him we can extract a little bit more use. For the several people who were killed. Don’t let them die in vain.”
“I will say this again Lieds,” Director Howard stared Lieds right in the eyes with a deathly serious look, “If we capture him and, say, he escapes again, what further impact would that cause on the populace? What would the President say about the project? As long as he’s out there looking for Subject Claw, as that’s what he’s been saying for the past year, he’s clearly a threat that needs to be disposed of. Capturing him will only slow down his search for Claw.”
Leids sighed at first. It was difficult debating the unpopular decision, especially since it seemed the tabled was enthralled with what both Howard had to say and what he had to say. It was a difficult position to discuss as well, considering Ifrit’s current course of action.
Those dead men did not create a sympathetic cause. Nor did they really give Ifrit an excuse for anyone to give them pity. But it was hard to explain this to the table. Merely because it was something difficult for people to understand, unless they gave themselves up to the idea. Still Leids wrung his fingers together, it was not a nervous habit, more like he was in deep thought and it showed.
“I’m going to get some laughs at the table,” Lieds began, though his voice was even and calm, “But let’s take the nuclear bomb aspect of the equation. Or even the fact that Ifrit was created.” Lieds took a second, “Pretend for a second.” It was the first time Lieds looked at the whole of the table, “That this was your daughter or your son. Or that fact of the matter we created Ifrit to deal with the metahumans out there. And do you know what threat a metahuman not created poses on the populace?” The table was looking at him to see where he was going here, “Let’s say Ifrit was your child. A metahuman child who made a mistake. A deadly. Horrible. Unforgivable mistake. But a mistake. Let him find Claw and then take Ifrit and Claw in together. And contain the both of them.”
Director Howard looked down at the manila folder that was at his breast on the table. He’d sigh at this predicament, he was finally pulling some weight in this discussion. He stood to his feet and walked over to the window of the meeting room and stared out at the world that was experiencing a summer unlike anything they’ve seen before.. “If I gave you a pardon on finding and securing both Claw and Ifrit,” he’d look over his shoulder at Lieds, “Then I will see these two in a secure, top-quality, facility. I will accept no failures, not one. You have three months to find and secure those two. After that lethal force will be authorized, and we will send in Cerberus team to dispose of them both. Understood? You have permission to use any methods possible to their capture.”
Leids took a second. To be perfectly honest he was surprised that Howard would have changed his mind. Howard had always come as the type of man who set his mind and did not budge. Mostly because Leids had dealt with Howard in the past and his stubbornness.
“Then I will look into it,” Leids told Howard, “Thank you for allowing this much.”
Which sounded like a weird gesture, but it was all he could say in his moment of surprise. In a way, he had no children of his own. And Project Ifrit had been like creating a child. A child that doomed the whole of the world. But then again so did every other metahuman child born.
But then who was to say they were the abnormal defect? What if the mundane, like those at this table, what if they were the abnormal ones to become extinct and the world ran by the metahuman? An idea that frightened many. Not many wanted to think in that matter. And not many would like to consider that thought. That they would someday become obsolete.
Then again. Didn’t they all have to prepare for that? Didn’t they all have to consider and think about that outcome? That consequence? Then wouldn’t it mean that they would have to find a way to deal with that outcome someday? He only wished sometimes it was not in the way of making weapons. But Ambassadors. Wouldn’t it have been better if Ifrit was a bridge between being a metahuman and a human.
Now the argument became one of life and death. Like it always did. Robots. Life and death. Metahumans. Life and death. If we created AIs would they destroy us and make us obsolete. If we created Metahumans or gave Metahumans more liberty, would they destroy us. And maybe the answer wasn’t as simple as yes.
What if they created their own destruction by trying to eliminate what they perceived as a threat? What if their own fear, made others respond in fear, which would ultimate create their death? Or maybe Leids had let this job get to him. Maybe he was overthinking it.
Another member at the table, Doctor Michael Rothschild, leaned back in his seat watching the two of them and studying their chemistry. He’d silently contemplate Director Howard’s decision on the project. In the beginning Howard was very set in making a weapon capable of withstanding any Metahuman that stood against the government. However, as those days went on Howard became more and more cynical about both Ifrit and Claw respectively. Though, when Project Claw was scrubbed all those years ago, Doctor Rothschild noticed a clear emotional difference in how he acted towards Ifrit.
Doctor Rothschild took a cigarette to his mouth and lit the end of it, taking a swig of the cancer-stick, “You know.” He took a minute to collect his thoughts. “If you’d understood how Ifrit acted towards other subjects, then you'd know that he’s extremely volatile.” Doctor Rothschild stood to his feet and walked over towards the door, “As long as he’s out about.. He’ll always be considered a danger to others..” Doctor Rothschild left the room and walked down a far hallway. ‘As long as Lieds is around calling the shots.. I won’t be able to shut down the project and get it scrubbed.. Although I could use Ifrit’s DNA to clone him, but that would present moral dilemmas. And so.. It begins..’
Mercer had watched the exchange with mostly just silence, his eyes going back and forth between the verbal sparring of Leids and Howard. It wasn’t that he didn’t have much to say on the manner. It was a delicate situation with either choice. There would be pros and cons on either end of the spectrum.
Mercer’s eyes though slowly drifted towards Howard after he had made his decision to allow Leids to continue his little containment plan.
“I hope you know what you’re doing Howard,” Mercer told him, “If either mission fails. There will be black on your name.”
Howard looked at Mercer with a semi-serious-semi-sad look upon his face. “I do hope as well..”
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