෴Martine෴

෴Remington෴

෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴

Cooking Lesson

෴෴෴ ෴෴෴ ෴෴෴

In a luxury high rise apartment surrounded by many layers of machine and human security, a tall handsome man dressed in workout gear warmed up a square pan at the stove.

His slightly disheveled sweaty appearance seemed out of place in the ultra modern high end luxury space. Nonetheless, he moved through the room as though he owned the place. He did.

An attractive raven haired woman in a business suit stood on the far side of the center kitchen island holding a sheaf of papers in manila folders. She appeared to be comfortable in her surroundings, but a certain tension in her carriage betrayed an underlying concern. At best, her comfort appeared to be that of a frequent guest, rather than the way the man stalked around the kitchen as a lion patrols its domain, taking what he wanted without a second thought.

“In summary, it appears that your asset in Turnabout is fully in play. However, he doesn’t have a lot of time to produce some results.” She closed the folder on the sheaf of papers and stood there as though she didn’t know what to do next.

The man cooking grunted his acknowledgment.

“Will there be anything else sir?” Candace asked.

“Shh. I’m thinking.” Martine replied, looking at the assembled ingredients next to the hot oiled pan.

He sprinkled some dark liquid into the pan that began to sizzle and steam. “Set the table for us.”

Candace looked at him, and then glanced at the table. She sighed and moved to get the table set.

Martine started cracking eggs with quick practiced motions. “What do you think about him?”

The woman paused, an uncertain expression crossing her face in an instant. “Um, I—I’m not sure. Would you like me to give him a call and find something out?”

He finished with the eggs and started slicing vegetables with a damascus steel kitchen knife. “No. I want you to tell me what you think of him, your assessment of him as a short and long term asset, now.”

She stammered, searching for the words “I guess I think he’s an ok asset. I think he’ll be loyal as long as it’s in his best interests. Right now I suspect he’s worried about that deadline from the committee.”

He glanced up at her without slowing his rapid slicing motions. “That’s a fairly low resolution assessment from you. I’d have expected more. It seems you’re struggling without using your ability.”

Her smile turned brittle. “I’ll be happy to call him and find out whatever you need to know.”

He smiled, without it touching his eyes. “That won’t be needed. I just wanted to know what you thought.” He added some eggs and began to fold them as they cooked in the square pan.

She finished laying out the table and returned to her folder. “Will there be anything else, sir?”

He folded in another pair of eggs. “Send him the mark four chips that have the master code already locked.”

She gulped. “The mark fours sir? Those aren’t optimized for creating field agents. They’re based on the original mark one chips.” She self consciously touched the back of her head before quickly returning to her previous position.

He folded in some more eggs and looked up at her. “I think my favorite thing about Tamagoyaki is what a lovely open palette it creates to add my own touch to.” He folded in a few more eggs. “I can add a little more garlic, some spring onions, maybe a little sliced ham like this one here, and get one thing.”

He turned off the stove and carried the pan over to the table. “Next time, perhaps I’ll go with roast pork, cumin, and sliced chili peppers. The possibilities are nearly endless.” He set the pan down on the waiting trivet and took a seat.

“Leave it to the Japanese to come up with a distinctively Japanese dish, that can deliver the flavor of so many other cultural recipes.”

“Sit.” His tone made it clear it was not a suggestion.

Candace all but fell into the other chair. She looked at him with a nervous uncertainty that bordered on fear.

He glanced at her and shook his head. “Wow, you really are lost without constantly using your ability to predict and manipulate me.”

She swallowed and looked down at her empty plate. “It—It’s hard to know how to act when I can’t tell what you need at the moment.”

He served each of them some of the food. “Tell what I need? I think we both know you’d moved quite a ways off track from just trying to do your job.”

He looked up from his plate at her. “For a long time I thanked my lucky stars that I’d gotten lucky enough to get someone like you working for me. Eventually when I realized what you were doing, I was even more happy when I managed to get you fitted with a mark one chip without you getting wind of it. You’re not exactly easy to surprise.”

She pursed her lips with displeasure but didn’t reply.

He let out a bitter laugh. “To think I actually thought a blunt instrument like the mark one would be enough to keep someone like you in line.”

She took a bite, not looking up from the food.

“It wasn’t, was it?” He continued. “Be honest. How long after the mark one training regimen did you find a way to get around the chip’s restrictions?”

She clenched her jaw, her body nearly vibrating with the tension of an internal battle. Only a few seconds later, she spoke. “A few minutes. My ability showed me.” the tension suddenly vanished when she answered him. A few seconds later her face flushed pink.

“How are you liking the mark four?” He asked before taking another bite.

Renewed tension appeared in her body and face. “I. Don’t. Like. It.” she grunted out after a brief resistance.

“Are you trying to use your ability to manipulate me now?”

She shook her head. A few seconds later she clutched at her face in pain. “No! I’m not!” she blurted out.

“As you can see, when I ask you a direct question, the mark four wants a direct answer.” He said with a smug grin.

She said nothing as her eyes burned with anger.

He looked across the table at her and smiled wider. “I like that defiance. I might even let you keep it.”

They stared at each other for several long seconds before she looked away.

He finished his food and looked at her mostly full plate. “Not hungry? This came out rather tasty, if I do say so myself.”

She looked as though she was planning to ignore his question before a pained look crossed her face. “It tastes fine. But I’m finding the situation has negatively impacted my appetite.” she said, with the appearance of choosing each word carefully.

Martine leaned back and smiled. “Tell me Ms. Remington, what do you really think about the mark four chips? Be honest. No repercussions, no punishments, but I want to know what you think.”

She suddenly looked more afraid than she already had. Despite his assurances she appeared to be choosing her words with care. “I think they’re not chips for creating assets or agents. They’re goddamn slave makers. I think that it’s only a matter of time before you use this thing to turn me into a mindless husk that does your bidding because it can’t imagine disobeying. I think you’re sending more to Stratton for the same reason. You don’t want powered assets, you want super slaves. It makes me s—”

“That’s enough.” he said.

Her mouth snapped shut mid word. She looked at him with renewed fear.

“No no, you don’t need to fear. The truth is, things need not change much between us.” he cleared his plate and set them in the sink.

She didn’t reply, so he continued on.

“I still need and value your skills. I just can’t have you using them against me. Be honest. How much have you been thinking about finding a way to break free from the restrictions the mark four has you under?” he asked in a conversational tone.

She fought this time, harder than any other point in the conversation. A few seconds into her resistance, she’d collapsed and fallen to the floor in a fetal curl. Eventually she grunted her answer “Constantly! I’m thinking about how to get free all the time!”

He offered his hand to help her up. She swatted it away and struggled to her feet on her own.

He used a small handheld device and made a number of entries before returning it to his pocket.

“That's great. I’m glad to hear you’ve been trying to find a way out.” Her eyes rolled back in her head. The next words he said somehow blurred in her senses. She knew he was speaking, but comprehension seemed just out of reach.

He finished, then waited for her eyes to refocus. “Just so you know, the implant is going to administer rapidly increasing punishments for all escape and evasion related thoughts from now on. I don’t, in spite of what you said, intend to enslave you, but I have too much respect for your intellect and ability to think that those restrictions alone will be enough if I don’t nip this in the bud.”

She looked at him with unveiled fury. “It’s the same thing!”

He shook his head, almost sad. “No, it’s really not. The mark four chips could do what you said, turn you into an obedient drone. The pain and pleasure training protocol makes it much faster than you’d think.”

He raised his hand to forestall a response. “But I mean it when I say that isn't what I want for you. The fact is, you’ve shown me just how dangerous you are with your ability, and it was either have you killed, or get your chip replaced so I could allow you to live.”

He cleared her nearly untouched plate and threw the remains of the meal away. “You see Candace. I like you. I liked you long before you started using your ability and your body to manipulate me. A mind, ability, and body like yours is a potent combination, as you well know.”

He chuckled ruefully. “Even knowing how dangerous you are, you still managed to have me wrapped right around those little fingers of yours.” He clenched his fists briefly. “Without some of the safeguards I have in place, I probably wouldn’t have caught on to you at all. You’re really quite good at getting what you want, and making other people think it was their idea all along.”

He set her dishes in the sink and leaned on the counter looking at her. “Too dangerous to keep, much too dangerous to let go. You say it’s a slave maker. I say, do your job to the best of your ability, stop trying to be the power behind the throne, and we can continue to have a good working relationship. Any questions?”

She thought about it for nearly a minute. “What if I want to quit? Can I leave?”

He frowned. “I’m afraid you didn’t quite catch the part where I said you’re much too dangerous to let go. I suppose, if you that’s what you really want, then I can have a training regimen drawn up for you. Once we can be sure you’ll never again even think about, let alone talk about, your work here, then we can think about dissolving our relationship. Any other questions?”

“If I stay, what’s your plan for me?” she finally asked, as though afraid of the answer.

He shook his head. “Nothing that’s not planned for everyone with abilities across the planet. Once we perfect the delivery and the training programs, we’re going to put these people where they belong, serving the public good.”

Her expression revealed just how much she didn’t believe him.

“I’m quite serious. For far too long these people with extra abilities think they can just do whatever they want. They have more capabilities, but act as though they don’t owe more to the greater good! The rise in crimes related to abilities makes it clear that something has got to be done!”

She didn’t speak, though her expression grew more horrified.

He continued without taking note of her reaction or lack thereof. “When the next round of bills get signed into law, the useful idiots out there marching for equality of outcome will ensure that just having abilities without the registration and an implant becomes a felony.”

He grinned and rubbed his hands together. “And then I—We, win! Sure we might have to break the system down before I—we can rebuild it, but victory is assured at that point.”