Coeus?

“Today we have to report an accident on Orbit One. Luckily it seems like no lives were lost during the breach of an apartment’s window. How the window's glass could simply break is up to investigation.”

-News-Channel: Aether I

***Orbit One, Lunar Space Station***

***Ed***

I lean back in my chair and continue to study the files which I found in the terrorist's room. Who would have thought that following the assassin's tracks would lead me to one of their cell leaders.

And the bastard was sitting right above Aether the entire time. He even had the audaciousness to pose as an agent for a mining company from the asteroid belt, renting an expensive apartment on this space station.

We decided that I would go alone to arrest him. If we had visited the station with an entire group of faceless, we could have alerted him. I didn't want to risk that.

“I never would have thought that I would find you sitting here after your assassination attempt failed. Why didn't you run?”

The man who is on the ground and leaning against the room's walls looks up to me. “I didn't think that you would be able to track me back. The command was given through a chain of five people. What did you do to them in order to get me?”

I shrug my shoulders. “They are in our custody. It's not up to me what happens to them. That's a matter of the law. But they were involved in attempted murder and several other crimes, so the least they can expect is a major re-education. Possibly with a new personality being installed.”

The man who is bound by my 'Chains of Light' spell tries to free himself. He only causes the energy chains to glow a little brighter, it's a vain attempt. The amplifier around my neck makes me stronger than most natural mages.

He spits at me, but I raise the papers to avoid being hit in the face. “That's not very civilised of you.”

“Don't you realize that a new personality is equal to a death sentence? Which civilised society does such a thing? Maybe you should ask yourself if you are working for the right people?” he growls at me.

I nod slowly. “Every social structure has its dark sides. Your anger is just. But do you have the right to expose us to the normals if the overwhelming majority is against it? Who gives you the right to decide?”

“Who gives them the right?” he calls out.

“They took the test and proved themselves to be worthy. Nothing more, nothing less. If you were worthy of making such a decision, then you would be an elder right now,” I answer.

“The elders are just emotionless robots. And you faceless are just chosen for your power and mentality of following orders! The system is wro-” But I interrupt him, pointing the stash of files in his direction. I've heard their ideology speech already too many times. “So? Would you explain this to me?”

The man chuckles. “Can't you read it yourself? Our leader wanted to make a statement about our devotion to the cause.”

I read the headline of the file aloud. “Project Coeus...”

“I've read it all, but I find it hard to believe. Maybe you stayed here to make the evidence more trustworthy? It is much more believable if we find the file with you and not simply lying around in an empty room. I can even feel Sadina's power on it. It's evident that this was in her hands at some point.”

“It can't be turned away as a fake. Right? Doesn't it feel mortifying that we'll still get what we want? And you will be the one who will enforce the law. Human experiments are illegal after all. It would have had more impact if one of our men killed the abomination, but this will also do. Once Sadina hears about it she will surely come out from under whichever stone she hid herself.” The man starts laughing.

I run a hand through my hair and look at him. It's a mystery to me how the Revelation Wing finds people like him. Maybe they have their own re-education camp somewhere. That would be a possibility. Somewhere hidden out in the asteroid belt. Most of them are coming from there.

“Sadina is a different type of villain from you people. That's why she isn't working with you lot. Different from you, she was forced into her position by an unfortunate set of events. I doubt that her first experiment was meant to kill someone. The only problem is that she lost her head afterwards and got deeper and deeper into trouble.”

The fanatic across from me furrows his forehead. “By the gods! A faceless with compassion! How can you even do your job? It doesn't matter. This time we'll get what we want. Her betrayal will cost her dearly. She isn't a poor girl which can be redeemed. She's a snake!”

I nod. “You are right. I am not saying that she's free of guilt. I am just saying that somewhere in here-” I point at my heart. “There is still a spark of goodness. Though you may be wrong in regards to her son. I don't think that she cares what happens to him.”

I flip through the pages of the file while I try to collect my thoughts. Sadina wants to free all techno-mages from being regarded as weak. She fell in love with a man who didn't want her because of her magical disposition. That caused something inside her to break. Techno-mages already have a lot of mental problems on their own. Experiencing a one-sided love pushed her over the edge.

She started experimenting with new spells until her powers went out of control. Many people died on that day and she fled. If she had simply stayed and taken the punishment, she would have gotten away with claiming that it was a terrible accident.

But in hiding she continued to pursue her goals, getting ever more brutal and ruthless with her attempts to become stronger.

If this file is true, then she gave up on turning herself into a more powerful mage. She turned to other means and had a child of her own blood. Sadina manipulated her own child's genome to create the ultimate techno-mage. But if this file is true, then she regarded the outcome as a failure and simply dropped him like a bad product.

“Coeus? The titan of intellect. That's a fitting name for him. Don't you think?” I grin upon remembering how he defeated the assassin. “I suppose she created him during her time with the Revelation Wing. Did she tell you guys that he would become your messiah? Or didn't you know what she was working on? It must have been a shock when she revealed how the funds were used.”

The man shakes his head. “She failed and ran away, but not before emptying our bank accounts. The child is a failure. But she has to feel something for it. Otherwise she wouldn't have taken him with her to hide him on earth. That's why we want him dead.” A grin appears on his face. He seems to be very sure of their plan.

Probably Gideon's fake parents weren't the only ones whose minds were bent to Sadina's wishes. She surely wiped her son's memories too. I sigh and shrug my shoulders. “You know... if all this gets public, then I honestly don't know what the elders would do. The law is very clear about human experiments. Probably the elders would sentence him to death.

“I am glad that this mission is not on their radar. We feared that you would run if several faceless entered the station at once. This also makes it easier now because I don't have to burden my comrades with this task.”

His expression turns uncertain. “What are you talking about? You are a faceless, a dog of the elders! You enforce the law!” Once again he starts thrashing against his chains.

I stand up, having made up my mind about the situation. “The test chooses the elders for their skills and ability to make wise decisions. Probably it would be wise to kill the boy. You were right on that point.” My eyes wander to the windowed wall and the stars beyond it.

“How much did this apartment cost? Free sight out of a space station is rare.” I step to the huge window and scratch my finger along the molecular crystal which was used to create it.

“No!” the terrorist shrieks. “You wouldn't!”

Then I turn and walk to the door of the terrorist's apartment. “But you are wrong about the faceless. As a faceless you aren't chosen for strength, not even for devotion or loyalty. We are chosen because of our own heartfelt principles. The only thing you need to be to become a faceless is a good person. Our society wouldn't have continued to exist for over two thousand years if the faceless only knew how to follow orders. I am very glad that you seem to be the only one who knows about this report. And I doubt that you have a second one with the necessary energy print to connect it to Sadina.”

Outside the room, I look left and right, confirming that there are no witnesses on the corridor in front of the apartment. Then I turn around and point my finger at the window. “So all I need to do is to stop you here. As a good person it's my sincere belief that laws have to be followed, but there are exceptions and the faceless exist to judge what's right and wrong. I think that all it takes for the world to turn into a worse place is one good person doing nothing while something bad happens in front of him.”

Without delaying further, I fire a simple kinetic spell at the window. The crystal glass shatters and the terrorist's unbelieving face vanishes from my sight as the door slams shut upon detecting the pressure loss.

He didn't scream till the end. Probably he couldn't believe it even as the glass shattered.

I rub my medal in deep thought. Then I activate it and address the station's artificial intelligence. “Station?”

“Yes.” A melodious voice answers throughout the corridor.

“There was an accident on level three at my position.”

“I detected a breach of the outer hull. The affected room was sealed. Rescue sprites are on their way. There is a low probability to save the individual who got sucked out into space,” the station answers obediently.

They really need to install a smarter sprite up here. Even the examination sprites from the schools are smarter! “Station. Abandon the mission. Incinerate all the trash which got sucked outside with the anti asteroid laser before it can leave the station's information barrier.”

The station answers with an artificially troubled voice. “But the humans don't have technology to-”

“Override 94684-Ed Pass erc924kilo43, execute. Your sensors are malfunctioning. There was no person sucked out into space. Follow the policies for minimal exposure.”

For a few moments the corridor is filled with silence. Then the station answers dutifully. “The drifting trash has been incinerated.”

I nod and start walking down the corridor. On my way I drop the Coeus-File into one of the trash recyclers where it is immediately dissolved into its components. “If that boy deserves a punishment, then he'll earn it himself and not because of what he is.”

Feeling like a weight is off of my shoulders, my steps become lighter. Today the faceless will have to manufacture an especially long report for the elders.

.