Devon Alone IV: The Legacy of Tears by Nicole Mayer

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DEVON, ALONE. PART IV
The Legacy of Tears (8/9)
by Nicole Mayer

Devon Adair, the only one John Danziger had known, was a Replica.

Finally, all the tiny signs added up. Her headaches, her instability, her inability to deal with reality and her desperate quest to find a place in life. From the very moment Danziger had met who he thought was Devon Adair, it wasn't her. It was a Council controlled clone.

"We didn't even know the same woman," Danziger numbly told Yale, shocked. Danziger wondered to himself - how had he fallen for a clone? (Had he really fallen for her?) Yes, he decided, she was more important to him than he'd ever realised.

Danziger shook his head, suddenly afraid and then disgusted with himself for his feelings. Devon (and he couldn't think of her any other way) was *so* real. Her eyes hadn't been empty. How could he believe that she was a Replica? He'd seen the life in her eyes beyond the immense sorrow, and the fire in her heart that spoke volumes to him.

And then Danziger thought of something that literally took his breath away. "She could still be out there!" And if she was...the Council could be in control. Devon had an implant in her head and who knew what that did to her?

"We have to find her," Danziger vowed. He wondered if they could remove the implant, and give Devon the Replica the opportunity to live as a true human being. How long had the Replica been alive? Two years, Danziger realised, two agonising years when they tested her through every means possible, including the Program. Two years to make sure that the information Devon had never got out, while the Council remained blameless of her death.

The analytical part of Danziger's mind realised Devon would be the perfect evidence to confront the Council - if he wanted to put her through the trauma.

There were so many possibilities. But he couldn't concentrate right now, for Danziger's heart was singing with the news that Devon could still be alive! He barely heard the robotic voices of security personnel escorting him from the room saying, "Ignore the words of the Yale. You are not permitted further contact."

Devon...if only she was alive...

***

There was a frantic hammering on the door, and both Kassidy and Danziger jumped. Kassidy had been contentedly curled up in her husband's arms on the couch as they celebrated his freedom. Her own emotions were confusing her greatly - sometimes (like right now) she believed she loved John more than anyone else in the universe. And other times, well, she *had* been prepared to say goodbye before she found out that he had been arrested.

Kassidy lazily extracted herself from Danziger's arms and wearily walked to the door, wincing as the drumming noise repeated itself. Morgan stood outside.

"You've got to help me!" he near-shrieked as he threw himself through the door in terror. "Quick, close it, I can't let anyone know where I am..."

"Morgan," said Kassidy in her best speaking-to-a-child voice, "what's wrong?"

"Everything," he moaned, grabbing a chair and flopping into it. "They're after me, and I didn't know where else to go." Morgan buried his face in his hands and pulled his hair loose from the restricting Council standard.

"Nice to see you too," grunted Danziger sarcastically, but Morgan didn't even notice.

"They're going to promote me!" Morgan wailed. "You know what that means, don't you? That's it! The end! I'll be *cloned*!" Kassidy had told him what they knew, and Morgan had covertly attempted to dig up information. But now it seemed as if his attempts had been traced.

"I'm supposed to fill Blalock's old position," Morgan babbled. "Did you know that he's dead?"

A smile slipped past Danziger's lips which he quickly smothered. No matter how much he disliked Blalock, he couldn't laugh at his death. "What was it?" Danziger asked.

"A rare condition that supposedly fuses neural pathways. In other words, he was brain dead." Morgan shivered, realising how easy it would be for the Council to destroy part of someone's brain, and the task would be even easier if the subject were a Replica.

"How do you know they're going to turn you into a Replica?" Kassidy asked reasonably.

"They had me handling what they call the "Devon Adair Situation". I suppose I went too far in pointing out the inaccuracies, and my superiors didn't like me highlighting the mistakes. Then I discovered that the incident was a rare yet complicated error on their part, and they needed me to ensure that it won't happen again," Morgan explained.

Danziger was suddenly very interested. "What won't happen again?"

Morgan took a deep breath. "With the first wave of Replicas, their implants were designed to constantly update their status in the Council's database."

"You actually found this out?" Kassidy was incredulous, Morgan must have been a better computer hacker than even *she* was.

He nodded dolefully. "I didn't cover my tracks well enough. And that's how I know they're going to kill me!" Morgan anxiously wrung his hands together. "The Board of Directors personally invited me to meet with them, for a special 'briefing' on the Replica situation. They know that I know, and they know I'm connected with you."

"The Council knows everything, huh Morgan?" Danziger attempted levity, but it didn't quite come off. Kassidy's eyes were more serious, and she gently patted Morgan's arm.

"I believe you, Morgan. We can hide you, I promise." Morgan relaxed a fraction. "Thank you," he said, his voice containing a hint of relief. "I knew I could count on you, Kass."

It might have been a beautiful moment between them had not Danziger jumped back into the conversation.

"What else do you know about the implants?" "The implants...oh yes, the implants. The situation with Devon was such a mess because once a Replica dies, the old implants send out a message recording the subject as dead. But the Council didn't have a body! No one did, and questions were coming in regarding her status."

Danziger nodded slowly, feeling a dark gloom creep back over him. "So they concocted the story, and showed us the body of the original Devon..."

"Not quite," corrected Morgan. "They found standard surveillance footage of the Replica deliberately walking towards an airlock. I think there was a gross miscommunication - the department assigned to making Devon go crazy..."

"They had a whole department for that?!" angrily broke in Danziger.

"Of course, they had to get rid of her somehow. She was the most unstable Replica they'd ever encountered, and couldn't trust her to function for the Council at all. They couldn't kill her outright, so they slowly, subtly tried to drive her over the edge. Until she caused her *own* death."

"NO!" shouted Danziger, obviously in denial. Were his hopes to be so cruelly dashed, only hours after discovering that Devon could still be alive? "How can they ... it's not possible ... would she *really* ..." He seemed at a loss for words, but Kassidy understood his pain.

"There's nothing you could have done," she told her husband. Danziger violently shook his head in response. "I *could* have done something," he berated himself. "Instead, I just walked away, saying that it wasn't my problem..."

"You didn't know!" protested Kassidy. "You can't blame yourself for the influence the Council had on her mind - just look at how real she believed you were from a VR program. She was in love with an image!"

But Danziger appeared not to heed her words. Instead, he turned to Morgan and demanded, "Give me everything you've got. The security footage, the trace of her movements, everything! Maybe we can still find her." He grimaced as the data showed only what he had already been told - Devon, her face so haunted and her eyes so empty, slowly and deliberately marching down a grey hall. She really did it.

"It's the best way to lie...tell the truth, except for the parts that really matter," Danziger said bitterly. "Morgan, Kass, from this I can assume that Devon went out of airlock 36-9C. That's on the dark side of the station."

Morgan was obviously waiting for further explanation as he held out his hands in a 'so what?' gesture.

"The Council didn't find her body yet," Danziger said, a quiet determination in his voice. "They probably didn't even bother looking."

Morgan studied a schematic of the outer catwalks and ports of the station. "If she went out there, chances of finding her are near impossible," he said darkly. "It's been too long since she went missing."

"But we can try!" Danziger said vehemently. "She gave her own life for so many other people, and that deserves more than floating through space forever." Obviously in deep thought, Danziger began to verbalise his ideas. "We'd need something that could latch on to a body, but gently, wouldn't want it to shatter..."

"And then what?" broke in Kassidy, her voice unnaturally high. "I know you feel obligated to help her, but John, there's nothing you can do anymore."

"It's an impossible task," agreed Morgan. "I'm sorry." Danziger sighed heavily, shaking his head of golden curls. "Damn, I just feel so useless. Devon Adair deserved more than this, she fought for so long. If only I hadn't..."

Kassidy's eyes filled with tears as she watched her husband torturing himself. "No, John, don't do this. You are not responsible for her death, and you need to put it behind you." Kassidy placed her arms around Danziger, hoping that he would relax a little and begin to let go of his guilt.

"It was a tragedy of great proportions," said Morgan wisely, having stopped his nervous fidgeting. He was terribly embarrassed by his own part in the whole Devon Adair affair, and wished fervently that he'd never become involved when his superiors asked him. If only he'd had the nerve to stand up to them, then things might have been different.

But that was the past. And no matter how much the three whose lives were touched by Devon Adair wanted to change events, it was too late. They couldn't go back, only forward with the memories.

End 8/9

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