“…So, eventually, another MTF team showed up, and mercifully we managed to contain the situation. I learned afterwards that apparently Agent Washington had gotten the mask out of storage from that hotel’s basement, and put it on. The mask already had a mind of its own, though, and it absorbs the minds of anyone who wears it, or looks into the wearer’s eyes. That’s how it controls people."
That’s what they told me.
“The Collective went on to absorb everyone living in the hotel, the next two Agents who came by to see what was happening, and-”
“If I may just back you up a moment, when you say ‘Contain the situation,’ what do you mean?”
“I mean we managed to keep the cops out long enough to remove the mask, and we didn’t have to kill anyone else. We had a blind guy walk in, put the mask in some sort of special metal box, and take it away. Then we made up a cover. We actually stuck with the ‘insane UN impersonator massacre’ story. The cops bought it, somehow.”
“So, the mission was a success.”
Oh, yeah, big success. They gave me a plaque for barely surviving that mission, for killing a bunch of civvies and Foundation personnel, and for very nearly making a situation the Foundation couldn’t cover up without brainwashing most of the population of a major city. Sweet taste of glorious victory, just doin’ my job, ma’am, I’m going to Disneyland, etcetera.
MacLean sighed. “Barely. I’m sorry; I don’t really want to talk about this anymore. Anyway, it was a long time ago. Mostly, what that mission did for me was give me as bad first impression of how the Foundation actually works.”
“How so?”
“How so? Well, let’s count the reasons.” MacLean leaned forwards in his chair and began checking off with his fingers to match his points. “Number one, our intel was shit. You know, they didn’t really tell us anything about what the Agents were actually doing before sending us in? Maybe the Agents didn’t know either, but that still means we were running in blind, and that’s dangerous even in normal circumstances.
“Number two, we weren’t geared up for what we were facing. I’ve seen other, more specialized MTF groups, and they get things like powered exoskeletons, motion-tracking radars to see people through walls, meme-resistant helmets… Maybe we could have requisitioned that stuff if we’d had more notice, but we still would have been forbidden to use it because we needed to keep a low profile, which brings me to number three.
“Three is how the Foundation reacted to all the havoc. No one outside the MTFs themselves stopped to shed a tear for any of the fallen Foundation fighters, and no one at all gave a fuck about the civilians, or the property damage. All anyone besides me thought about was ‘How do we cover this up?’ No remorse, no regret, no questioning whether what we did could have been done better. Everything just gets swept under the carpet; as far as the Foundation and the world are concerned, it never happened. Yeah, like thirty people dying violent deaths isn’t important. Hell, if we’d been better prepared, maybe there could have been NO casualties. How hard would THAT have been to cover up!?”
With more witnesses, it might have been harder. That makes me sick. Sicker.
By the end, MacLean was bright red and practically shouting. Once he’d finished, he seemed to realize this, settled back into his chair, and sighed. Dr. Benson gave him a sympathetic look. “Do you want to take a break?” he asked. “We can pick this up later, if you prefer.”
MacLean nodded. “Yeah… I need a drink, and some food. A smoke would be nice, too. Maybe we can continue tomorrow?”
Benson gave his permission and let MacLean out, and then went back to his desk. “This concludes the recording of MacLean’s questioning on the morning of April ninth,” he said aloud, moving his finger over the machine once again. “I would just like to add for the record that MacLean probably still has much to tell us. Even if he cannot provide specific information about the better-kept secrets of the Foundation, his skill, his experience, and his obvious passion for protecting humanity could make him very useful to us. Also, we seem to have found just the right level of medication for him; he was more alert and helpful today than he was previously, but not overly irritable.”
