OIC (35)
MegaZone23
"Hurts/Hurts/Hurts/Like a like a motherfucker/Love/It
hurts/It kills/Like a sonofabitch."
--Faith No More
Kei sat silently brooding during the flight back to the
Son. Her mind was clouded by a flood of emotions. Contrary
to what she had told Yuri, she was not alright. Everything
that she had based her world on, all the trust she had placed
in those around her, had been destroyed when she saw Ben
shoot that child. She finally understood, completely, what
had driven Zoner to distrust everyone. It was so clear now.
If she couldn't trust Ben, after all the time they had spent
together, after she had thought she knew him so well, there
really wasn't anyone she could trust. Yuri tried to console
her, but Kei coolly brushed her off. Even her bond with Yuri
had been shaken. The scene kept replaying in her mind. Ben
aiming his gun at the poor child's face, grinning, and then
spreading the child's brain across the hallway. She saw it
all clear as day. Her entire world had died with that child.
Yuri sat next to Kei. After her attempts to brighten
Kei's mood had been met with a "Thanks, but no thanks" reply
she too began trying to figure out what had happened. She
couldn't imagine Ben doing what Kei had said, but then she
couldn't think of Kei lying about it either. And Kei was
very definitely upset. There had to be a better explanation
for the events as they happened. If only she could think of
one.
Ben had been loaded into the cargo compartment with
several of the wounded. A couple of Triple-S troopers rode
with him in case he awoke and tried something. Kei had
insisted on that. In fact she wanted to do it, but Yuri had
talked her out of it. The troopers didn't really understand
why they were guarding one of their commanding officers, but
Kei's angry attitude had convinced them that it was
important. They figured it would all be straightened out
once they were back onboard the Son.
Once back aboard ship Ben was taken to sickbay, and
placed under guard at Kei's request. The Triple-S dispersed
to their normal shipboard positions, and of course they told
others what had happened on the planet. Soon rumors about
Ben were flying fast and furious, most of them having nothing
to do with the truth. At least the truth as Kei would have
it. After Ben had been taken away Kei pulled Yuri aside.
"I want you to fill Zoner in on what happened."
"Me? What about you?"
"I need some time to calm down. I don't want to talk
about it right now. Tell him I'll be by to see him later.
I've got some things to do."
"Well, ok. He probably won't be happy, but he should
understand. Take care, ok?"
"Yeah, I'll be alright. I just need some time alone."
With that Kei left quickly and Yuri went to find Zoner.
She found him in his quarters, trying to start preparing
the mission reports.
"Hi love. Can you spare me some time?"
"I always have time for you. What do you need?"
"I need to talk with you about the mission."
"Yeah... I understand something odd went down. And now
I hear Kei has Gryph under guard. Can you explain all this
to me?"
"Well, I can try."
Yuri filled him in on the mission. Clearing the
offices, trying to get to the children, up to the point that
she stepped around the corner.
"So I found Kei sitting there, bleeding and crying, and
Ben had three shots, obviously from her gun, in his chest.
There were bodies everywhere. Both children and terrorists.
It was a real mess."
"Kei shot him?! Why?"
"She says he's the one who killed all the children.
Said he saw him blow one kid's head off and then shot any
other survivors. Then he shot her. So she shot back."
"Whoa... Hold on... Waitaminute. You're trying to tell
me that Gryphon slaughtered a hall full of kids and then
tried to do Kei?? That's crazy! He loves her, he'd never
try to hurt her! And he killed a hall full of kids?
Yaright! Tell me another one."
"I don't know. I find it hard to believe too. But
that's what she says. Kei is pretty messed up right now.
She says she'll be in to talk to you later."
"I'm sure she believes what she says, but there has to
be another explanation. Gryph killing a bunch of kids seems
about as likely as Kevin sleeping with a woman."
"Well, you can talk to her about it later."
"I'll do that. In the meantime why don't you see what
you can do to help her deal. You're the closest to her, next
to Gryph."
"Believe me, I've been trying, but she seems to want to
be alone."
"I just hope that she doesn't do what I did. Remember
way back when I told you about Rob betraying my trust?"
Yuri nodded. "Well, I stopped trusting everyone, and I
wanted him dead. One of the worst moves I've ever made. Try
to force her to talk to you, make her communicate. Whatever
you do, don't let her build a wall. Go find her. Love you."
"I'll do my best. See you later. Love you too."
After leaving Yuri to talk with Zoner, Kei headed back
to her room. She threw herself on the bed and began sobbing
deeply. She couldn't stand the emotions she felt. She loved
him. She trusted him. The Ben she knew could never have
done what she saw him do. He must have been a damn good
actor to fool everyone for so long. He used her, fooled her,
twisted her emotions to suit his needs. Never again, never
again would she allow someone to get as close to her as he
had been. And another brick slid into place. Schnick.
She cried for a long time, but eventually her sorrow
turned into a cold rage. She was angry at herself for being
so gullible. She had trusted him too easily. That would
change. Schnick.
She jumped off the bed and began tearing all the kipple
off the walls. There were pictures of her, of the two of
them together, posters he had hung, everything that reminded
her of him or their past together she destroyed. She threw
all of his little collectables on the floor and crushed them
underfoot. She set out to destroy him, starting with
everything that he valued. Schnick.
After she trashed the room she turned on the comm screen
and placed a call planetside.
"Musashi City Police. How may we help you?"
"This is Kei Morgan with the WDF."
"Oh! Yes, what can we do for you."
"I have a question for you. Are there any security
cameras at the Seventh Street School?"
"Um... Lemme check. Yes, yes there are. All of the
main hallways have cameras."
"Thank you. Is there anyway we can get a copy of todays
recordings?"
"For you? Of course."
"Good. Can you tight-beam them to this comm station?"
"We should be able to. Yes, let me set of the link to
the school's computer... ok, ready to receive?"
Kei pressed a few buttons. "Ready."
"Transmitting."
The comm screen was filled with the word 'Receiving' and
bar graph showing percent complete. The transmission only
took a few minutes.
"Will there be anything else?" the officer asked.
"No, that should be all. Bye," Kei replied.
"Bye."
Kei began searching the recordings for the film of the
events she had witnessed. She was going to need some kind of
proof to convince everyone else.