I first wrote this 21 March of 2001 in one manic morning of writing to the tunes of the Forever Knight Soundtrack. As of 18 June 2008, I've updated it a bit and rid it of a bit of verbosity as well as some stuff I had wanted to eliminate/change over the years. Ah, those halcyon days of yesteryear...
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Sighing softly, Nagle wiped his eyes with his handkerchief as the car pulled up to his apartment building. He manually drove the transport into the parking garage reserved for Rekall upper level employees. Stepping out of his vehicle, he stumbled as his eyes clouded again at the pain of Barbara's traitorous action. It wasn't until he stood in front of the elevator that he noticed the CPB detective across the garage from him. He watched as the man walked up to him smiling politely.
"Good evening Mr. Nagle" Farve said in a friendly tone. "I've been sent out to collect more information concerning the death of your acquaintance, Mr. Joseph Grainger. May I speak with you?" Vincent Nagle looked up at Ian Farves face. He had heard about the CPB android detective but seeing the Alpha so close up was quite a different experience. His predecessor had told him much of what he'd learned from the internal scanners on Mars when he first found out Farve was an android. Richard Collector had explained the test he set Farve up for to get him to come out about being an android when Collector had purposely punched in the wrong codes to trip the security grid.
"Of course, please come on up." Nagle offered as he gestured politely to the CPB detective, allowing him first entry of the elevator leading up to his condominium. Out of the corner of this eye, he silently took note of the other man and memories of the last conversation he'd had with Richard Collector came flooding back to him.
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"He's remarkable, he can stand thousands of volts of electro current without even flinching. His rapid cellular regeneration is astonishing." Collector said over his glass of whiskey as they sat in Nagles apartment. "If only we could find some way to reprogram him to come over to our side. It's quite obvious all the standard means of coercing members of the CPB and AO won't work on him. Maybe we could have him "killed" somehow so we could retain rights to his body to study him." Nagle could see that Richie was quite excited about this new discovery as he sipped gingerly on his own glass of unwanted whiskey.
"Maybe we could get a technician to implement a virus that would cause him to go rogue. Then his little secret would be out and he would most likely be dismissed from the CPB?" Nagle offered the excited man as he paced the room like a wild panther. Nagle found himself admiring the way Collector moved when he got excited. How he would walk with cat like movements despite his injury from the war. He never needed the cane when they were alone, Nagle noticed.
"If we give him a virus, he would immediately be caught up by that infernal Calley." Collector said as he sat down next to Nagle on the couch. "It's a good idea though Vincent, I'm proud of you for it. You have a lot of good ideas in that head of yours don't you?" He said as he kissed Nagles forehead in comfort and appreciation. Nagle smiled bitterly at the compliment. It wasn't often that the man gave such glowing praise to anyone. He felt Collectors hand slipping down his shirt and into his pants and inwardly shuddered at the intrusion but was careful to mask his true feelings.
Groaning softly, he felt as his hands begin a slow stroking motion to arouse him, just the way Collector thought he liked. Nagle tried relaxing a bit as they continued their conversation for the rest of the evening but to no avail. They talked about everything going on in each other's lives before they made their way back to the bedroom. Nagle thought back on those times he and Richie spent together and smiled sardonically as he took his measure of the trigger for the mixed feelings welling up at the other mans attentions.
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Just as quickly as it has come, Nagle was snapped out of the memory and into reality. Much to his relief, Collector had been sent to the Lunar colony for what was termed a "relaxation period". In truth, he'd messed up and Rekall wanted him out of the reach of both the IPC and CPB as soon as possible to avoid further questions regarding their unethical practices. Shaking the matter from his mind, he turned his attention back to the waiting detective.
"So Detective Farve, exactly what else would you like to know?" He asked cheerfully despite his broken heart over Barbara and other clinging thoughts of the past. He watched as the CPBs own Android Detective took his measure of Nagle before sitting back comfortably and beginning his line of questioning.
"Mr. Nagle, why exactly did you choose to meet in such a dangerous area? There are certainly plenty of other places you could discuss security protocols." Farve asked calmly. Nagle watched as the android scrutinized him to see if he would give anything of the truth away. He smiled inwardly. Hume had taught him well since discovering his partner was in fact an android. He wondered if it was a learned behavior for Farve to stare like that or if he genuinely knew it worked to intimidate people into talking.
"Joe was concerned about some security matters in his own department at Uberbraun as I explained to your Detective Hume." Nagle explained. If this is the best the Alpha could come up with, Nagle was sorely disappointed. He watched as the man continued to stare at him, as if measuring his answer before continuing with his line of questioning.
"Mr. Nagle, if Mr. Grainger was concerned about security leaks in his own department, why not go to the Uberbraun security teams. They are specifically trained to deal with internal security breaches and are better suited to look out for Uberbraun interests." Farve asked as Nagle smiled at his reasoning functions. Nagle knew even an four year old could have seen through the paper thin story his put out about his meeting with the deceased programmer. He just needed a halfway decent story to explain his being with the dead body of Joseph Grainger, the former.
Walking over to Farve, Nagle sat next to the Alpha to get a closer look at his skin. It really was remarkably human looking to Nagle as he saw more closely the colorations. They outdid Uberbraun and the old Nexus models by far. He wondered to himself who could have created something as amazing as this android. Taking Farves hand, Nagle looked into his eyes to gauge his reaction to the intimate posture. Ian Farve had never been touched in such a way in his memory and felt as something inside him reacted to being touched by the other man. He felt himself heating up and noted that his skin was changing to a light red color in response to the feel of Nagles hand against his own.
Nagle watched as Ian Farve blushed slightly at the contact and decided to tell at least part of what happened to him. He explained that he had just broken up with a woman he cared a lot about. She had left him for her ex-husband after lying to him to get what she wanted. When she was done with him, Nagle explained, she called her ex-husband to arrange to be picked up. He purposely left out the part about the woman being their helper at Uberbraun and the admitted ex-girlfriend of Joe Grainger so as not to endanger the plan. Nagle sighed sharply before being mildly surprised when Farve comfortingly put his arms around his shoulders.
He watched as Ian Farve worked through some internal conflict before he leaned in and kissed Nagle full on the lips. Whatever the programmers had done to make him, they certainly didn't leave anything out as Farve slowly pierced Vincent Nagles heart with his gentle manner. Nagle hadn't expected this from the CPBs finest and was even more shocked by the fact that Farve was an android doing all these things. He slowly came out of his daze as Farve released his lips.
"Do you want to?" Farve asked him seductively. Nagle stared at him for a moment. Emotions he thought he'd locked away with Richie's sequesterment on the lunar colony began to rush to the surface. In one rushing moment Farves hands became Richies and Vincent Nagle shuddered as his eyes closed. He felt as Ian Farve began to pull him to him for comfort in response to his shivering and quickly pulled away from him.
"I'm sorry, I can't..." Nagle stuttered. Nagle reeled in shock, he hadn't stuttered since he was 20, not since a few months after he met Richie. Nagle felt as bile rose in his throat at the thought and he quickly excused himself from Farves presence. Running to the bathroom, he promptly began vomiting once he reached the toilet. He felt rather than heard as Farve entered the room and held his shoulders in comfort as he emptied the contents of his stomach into the porcelain bowl. He felt warmed by the efforts of the android to comfort him in his time of need.
"You should have something to drink Mr. Nagle. It will help calm your stomach." Farve offered. "Would you like to lay down? I can fix some tea for you and bring it into your room if you like?"
Still too ill to speak; Nagle nodded as Farve lifted the man and helped him walk into the adjoining room. He stiffened as Farve began to unbutton his shirt but relaxed at the trustworthy look in Farves eyes. Farve seemed to know what was making him so upset without even asking and promised that nothing would happen unless he wanted it to. Nagle watched as Farve tucked him in and made sure he was comfortable. Exiting the room, he listened as Farve slipped off his coat and began to move about in the kitchen. Nagle listened at the water ran into his teakettle and smelled the heady aroma of chamomile tea even from his room.
Nagle smiled to himself as he began to rethink his position on Farves capacity for humanity. It was probably more than even Collector has suspected it to be. He did seem to be more than a walking toaster as he heard Collector call him on several occasions. Nagle smelled something else cooking on the stove but was too weak to investigate. He smiled softly as he heard Farves distinctive footsteps walking back to his room. Watching as he walked over to his bed, he struggled to sit up as Farve put his tea down to aid him in the process of sitting upright. Farve held the cup and let Nagle sip from it gently. The tea was the perfect temperature and he tried to drink it quickly, only to have it snatched away by Farve when he began gulping the liquid down.
"I don't suppose you want to talk about it?" Farve asked softly as he attracted Vincent Nagles attention. "This would be off the record. I am actually off duty right now so anything you say wouldn't make it back to my job unless you wanted it there."
Nagle watched as Farve carefully chose his words. He knew why Nagle had reacted in such a manner; he had to have seen it before as a Detective of the Citizens Protection Bureau. Nagle kept quietly thanking whatever divine power sent Farve for the questioning instead of that awful Hume. Nagle slowly nodded that he would talk about what happened. Clearing his throat, he asked if Farve would keep everything told to him in the strictest of confidences. Farve agreed.
Slowly Nagle began to tell his story. "I graduated early from school. I was 16 when I first entered college and 19 when I first got out. I was recruited by the Assessors office almost immediately and assigned under Richard Collector. James was there too, I mean Lieutenant Calley, and we all pretty much worshipped the ground Collector walked on. He was like an older brother to us all. Someone to aspire to be and all, you know? Anyway, about four months after we all were together, Calley came up to me and told me that he saw Collector intimidating one of the receptionists about what sounded like a night they had spent together. He told me she was crying as Collector shook her, snapping at her that she 'had better take care of the situation'. Being right out of college and quite naive, I never dreamed that our fearless leader could be capable of something so horrible. It was right before the weekend that Jimmy told me about this incident and the next week, the girl was nowhere to be found."
"We were going to ask her what had happened," Nagle explained to Farve. "To see if we could help her in any way. She was just gone though. We called her house, went to her favorite places to hang out. We came up with nothing. Calley had been in the war and was suspicious about the whole incident. He started distancing himself from Collector right after. I on the other hand, wanted to think the best of him. After all he was our role model since we first joined the AO. I wanted to ask him outright what had happened to the girl. Calley cautioned me not to do anything until we had more evidence to go on and suggested we both wait."
"One day about a month later, Collector called me into his office. When I got there, a higher level Assessors officer was waiting with him. I asked him what was going on and he explained that he was a bit concerned about my sudden withdrawal from the teams' social spectrum. I explained that I hadn't been getting a lot of sleep lately. I lied and told him I wasn't used to the early hours the AO kept but was trying to adjust my sleep patterns to suit them." Nagle sighed softly as he looked down at the quilt covering him up to his chest. He felt Farves hand cover his in a gesture of comfort. Nagle slowly took in another breath before continuing his story.
"Collector asked me about my private life. He wanted to know whether or not something in it might be affecting my ability to sleep properly. He suggested that maybe a girlfriend or something was the reason behind my inability to get the proper rest to perform my job. I told him I didn't have time for a girlfriend or social life outside the AO due to the hours. I watched as he smiled at my words but didn't pick up the reasons for it. If it had been Calley in that seat, he would have known immediately and probably would have killed him for having the idea. Collector then invited me to dinner with him that evening, since I had nowhere else to go that night. At the time it seemed an honor to be invited to dinner by the boss and a man I admired despite his recent history with the receptionist."
Nagle trembled as he remembered the dinner and what followed. "I showed up a half an hour early with a wine that must have cost half my credit chit account to buy. He was cooking himself and had called out to tell me the door was open and to have a seat. Before I sat, I took the wine into the kitchen for him to open and watched a bit as he cooked the meal; everything untreated first level food. Salisbury steak, pumpkin pie, ice cream, and even Jell-O. It was amazing and I was honestly flabbergasted.. Even with my rather well sponsored upbringing, I had never seen so much first level quality food in my life. I stood there staring as my mouth watered at the smells coming from the stove and oven. He saw this and gently pushed me out the door and into the den."
"I sat there drooling over the upcoming dinner as I heard Collector moving about in the kitchen. I was so intent on the food; I didn't hear when he had actually entered the room to sit next to me. Looking up in shock, I watched as he smiled as he draped his arm across my shoulders. He began to question me more about my withdrawal from AO life. I gave him the same story from before even if the motives behind it weren't exactly true. He started shaking his head slowly, disagreeing with what I was telling him. He told me I was lying and I had better start telling the truth or else. I re-explained that I was simply not getting enough sleep. Collector started shifting closer to me as he brought up the missing girl. He said that with my recent activities, I could be blamed for her death." Nagle watched as Farves face mirrored the shock he felt when he was first confronted with the situation 10 years before. He smiled sardonically.
"He explained to me that I either went along with him and did what he told me, or he would see to it that the murder was pinned on me. It was at that moment I remembered everything Calley had told me about Collector being shifty. I just wish I had listened to him in the beginning; I wouldn't have gotten into that mess in the first place. Here I was nearly 20 years old. Someone who had killed and would place the blame on me if I didn't go along with him was bossing me around. He then explained that he knew plenty of ways to make it look like the baby was mine, thus giving the murder a motive for me doing it. He would then use the information that I had so stupidly given him about my not being able to sleep to say that I felt guilty about the killing."
"I felt like such a fool! How could I have been so stupid?" Nagle said loudly as Farve stroked his hand in comfort. Nagle appreciated the gesture and was thankful for Farves attention to his problems. He looked at the other man and almost forgot that he was in fact an android. Farves eyes reflecting so much protectiveness and emotion in their Hazel depths. Nagle sighed once again before continuing his story, not only for the other man, but for himself as well. He felt the need to expunge the whole sordid history from him.
"I tried to convince him not to, saying that I barely knew the girl but he showed me a tape of the girl and I in a restaurant. I was floored when he explained that he had cloned me from the DNA samples I had given when I joined the AO. He smiled when he saw me trembling and whispered that even if I did get the truth out to someone, he knew plenty of people in the Consortium that could easily get rid of me. I was then told that I would be dust in a sanitation chute by the end of the week if I tried to weasel out of what he had in store for me. What else could I do but agree? If it had just been him, I would have turned him over without a moments notice. With the Consortium tied into it, I knew he could do what he promised."
"My father was an executive at Mina-con Mining." Nagle said as he explained to Farve the history behind his fear of Collector and the threats he leveled at him. "He told my mother over and over that they were doing things under the table from what the IPC wanted. That the main reason they moved most of their operations to Mars was to escape the illegal human cloning they were doing to make better workers for their mines. He was going to come forward to the IPC and the CPB about what he knew but they found out about the meeting and blew his car up in our driveway." Nagle shivered at the memory but was comforted a bit by Farves wrapping his quilt around his shoulders. "When Collector mentioned what he could do with the help of the Consortium, I froze up. I had seen what they were capable when they made an example of my father. "
"Collector asked me to be his spy to seditious activities in the AO and I would report most things but I knew he wanted the prize of James Calley to put up as a trophy on his wall and I was determined not to let him have him. After all, he was right about Collector from the start and he was a good friend of mine. He suspected him of being up to some means of bringing the truth out about his shady dealings but as long as his trusted spy didn't say anything, what could he prove?" Nagle coughed sharply as he remembered the history he shared with Richard Collector. Farve watched as his lip trembled at his next revelation. "You see Ian, I didn't just become his spy all those years ago. I also became his paramour as it were. I could never call him a lover because the relationship was under duress. We actually didn't sleep together until a few weeks after that dinner but he made it more than apparent that night that he wasn't only interested in spy work on my part."
"It took some getting used to with him; the guys I had slept with before that were never anywhere near as rough or unemotional as he was. It always seemed like he was trying to work through some type of frustration when we slept together. At first it was horrible for me. I used to do everything I could to avoid it but after a while, I think he realized it was painful for me and he would ease up a bit." Nagle said as he watched Farve shiver at the idea of pain Nagle thought he could never feel.
Nagle was surprised at the reaction in him and mentally made a note to find out the cause of that. "Anyway, to make a long story short; Calley finally got the break in his case and had Collector brought up on charges for corruption among other things. Due to his high status, he was able to leave the AO relatively unscathed and because I was his accomplice, he took me with him to Rekall. The IPC could never prove me guilty of wrongdoing but they would have nothing more of me in the AO."
"I've always suspected that Calley knew on some level that I was forced into Collectors hand but he never said anything one way or the other. I think he did it to protect me more than anything. Spying in the AO is tantamount to treason. I could have met with a much worse fate than Collector if it were ever found out that I did spy. I could never argue whether it was under duress or not because I hadn't reported it immediately to the AO. If I had, there would have at least been a record of my complaint. Then again, maybe not considering most of the Old AO like Collector went over to Consortium companies not too long after Richie left."
Nagle smiled sadly as he finished his tale and looked into Farves steady eyes questioningly. "I've told you my tale; suppose you tell me yours? Where did Ian Farve come from?" Nagle smiled as Farve slipped off his shoes and climbed into bed with him. Cuddling up in Farve strong arms wrapped protectively around his shoulders, he listened to what sounded like a heartbeat in his chest as he began his tale.
Fin
Copyright 2001 KaliTime Camaralzman
sick
peaceful
bored
accomplished