Chapter 13
Tabitha was worried; Admiral Wilson's son had serious problems. He was automatically defensive of anyone in authority, and his favorite phrase seemed to be 'Fuck you'. So after talking it over with Bree, it was decided that perhaps Carl might have an idea.
After explaining it to him, Carl sat thinking. "His main issues are with his father, the Admiral. I've spoken briefly to him, and I have to say I think the kid may have a point. That man is so full of himself it's ridiculous. I don't think he's ever failed at anything in his life. After five minutes in the same room with him, I had to leave before I punched him in the face."
Tabitha chuckled; "Yeah, the slimy weasel was even hitting on me with his wife in the room with us! That lady has some serious self-esteem issues. The daughter is spoiled rotten since he lavishly praises her for everything she does. I caught in his mind that he wished his worthless son was half as good as his beautiful daughter."
"The boy's name is Wayne?" When Tabitha nodded, he continued, "Has Wayne begun to resent the girl yet? What about his mother?"
"He does and he doesn't. He resents the relationship she has with their father, but she is turning into a cute young woman, and he is a typical fifteen-year-old male. He thinks she is a stuck-up little bitch, but damn does she have a nice tight little ass, which is probably the biggest problem he has. He thinks he might be a 'fag'. He loves looking at asses. In the shower at school he has to really fight himself from getting an erection. From his thoughts I'd say he's bisexual, but with his father the way he is, any hint that he is attracted to other men..." She shook her head,
"As for his mother, she is no more then a placeholder for him. She has never stuck up for him, or opposed his father on any issue. I think she's more submissive than I am, and she doesn't have a true master, only a slave driver. He has fantasized about forcefully fucking her ass — which she would love — but he really isn't attracted to her as a potential mate, at least not yet," she finished. "He doesn't even see her as a real person."
"I think, in this case, you should handle Rebecca's mental training. Anne Marie should work with the daughter, Amy and Bree should work with Wayne. The good Admiral can go through with the normal people. Be sure he sees that his family is getting special training. When he asks why he isn't, tell him the truth; we are working to mitigate the damage he's done to them. Move the Admiral to a single apartment. I don't want him to take his frustrations out on them. I'll have special services arrange a car accident for the Admiral and his family. None of them will be leaving here in this condition," Carl said.
"Why don't we just mind wipe the memories of us, and send them on their merry way?" Tabitha asked.
"To do that would mean approving of what that bastard is doing to his family. I know I can't fix everyone's problems, but I can try to handle the ones that drop in my lap," Carl answered. "You know, I think it might be better just to talk to them first. Please bring them all to my conference room before you split them up."
"Thank you all for meeting with me before we begin your training. You've all been evaluated, and it has been decided that in your case, we are going to implement some special circumstances," Carl began.
"Excuse me, son. I know we spoke before, but I didn't get who you actually are in this organization," Admiral Wilson said.
"I'm the guy that accepts the blame when people die, Admiral," Carl answered.
"So that makes you the janitor, then?" The Admiral burst out laughing at his joke.
"Not exactly, but close. It is my job to clean up other people's messes, like the one you have. We've brought a lot of different families through here in the past few months. However, none of them have been as screwed up as yours," Carl said.
"Now see here! I won't sit here and..." The Admiral began as he burst to his feet.
"Sit down, and shut the fuck up, or I will impose it on you! You're going to listen to what I have to tell you and listen good! I never had a father growing up, but if my only choice had been to have one like you, I'm damn glad I didn't! Be thankful we don't just shut your ass off and move on, because I assure you, that is an option." Carl stopped to calm himself, and regain control of his emotions. He quickly checked the family's minds to see if he had gone too far. Rebecca was scared, but highly aroused, and her pussy was a swamp. His outburst made her knees weak. Wayne was ready to cheer, and was grinning. Amy was frightened, and confused — which frightened her even more.
"I apologize; it was not my intention to bring you here to frighten or threaten you. I simply wanted to let you know what was going to happen and why. In your life, Admiral, you believe that you have never failed at anything. You think that all someone needs is the right attitude and hard work. To some degree you are correct; those things are required to achieve your goals. However, a person - especially a child, needs more. They need the support of a loving family, encouragement, and a non-judgmental attitude.
"You are wrong about your failure rate though, you have failed in one of the most important parts of being a human. You've failed as a father and husband. Because of your failure, you have a wife that not only doesn't love you, but the only reason she hasn't taken her own life to get away from you is because of her children. She feels she made a mistake when she married you, but that isn't correct because you portrayed yourself as something she needed in her life. She stays with you because she believes she can't support the children on her own. She still has needs, but you are not one of them."
Carl turned to the youngest of the group, Amy. "Amy, I know you are a good student, and love to play volleyball. Would it surprise you to learn that your brother, Wayne got higher grades than you do when he was in your grade?"
Amy looked a little flustered at being addressed, but answered anyway. "But his grades are horrible! Daddy says that if he doesn't get his grades up and actually pass this year, he's going to ship him off to a military school. Wayne acts like he doesn't even care."
"Wayne got better grades than you, and your 'Daddy' only told him that he can do better, and that he was being lazy. Of course your brother doesn't care, because your father was going to send him to that military school anyway; he was only waiting for Wayne to turn sixteen to meet the minimum age requirements. Your 'Daddy' has never, not even once, given Wayne a compliment on anything. Yet he gives you compliments all the time, about your grades, athletic performance, even about the way you dress. Do you think that's right?"
The girl sat thinking hard to remember a compliment to prove this man wrong. She realized that if she had to think this hard, it didn't really matter if it was true or not. In that moment the self-centered little girl grew up a little and began to understand her brother in a whole new way. She had never complimented him for anything either. She turned to Wayne with tears coming to her eyes; "I'm so sorry, I didn't stop to think what was happening to you. We've all been so mean to you. Please forgive me; I'll try to do better, I promise."
In her thoughts she was thinking that perhaps this might help these men not punish her Daddy, but part of her was sincere in the apology.
Wayne, with a slightly confused look on his face, gave Amy a slight smile, but didn't say anything.
Carl turned to the mother. "Rebecca, nature may have made you submissive, but you have to learn to stand up for yourself and your children when you're being abused. We will try to help you with that, not by giving you a better master, but by showing you how to choose one wisely. In a way, you are as guilty of abuse as your ex-husband. However, in your case, we can see that you honestly didn't know how to stand up to him. I don't know much about what you need, but I do know that while it takes courage to be a master, but it takes far more courage and strength to be a slave. Good luck."
Carl then turned to the Admiral, sitting prim and erect, awaiting his turn to thrash this young meddler. He was thinking; 'How dare he try to take my family away from me? He was an excellent father, he just had a son that was worthless and that could make anyone look bad. It wasn't his fault the boy had no drive. The boy just needed discipline, that's all; plain and simple discipline would bring the boy into the proper frame of mind'.
"As for you, Arthur: You do posses a keen tactical mind, so we are going to try to work with you. However, if you don't wake up and fly right, I'm sure we can find a way to do without you. As of this moment, because of your crimes against your family, I am stripping away that family, as well as your rank. From this moment on, you have nothing; nothing but a chance to improve, and become a real human."
Finally, Carl turned to the boy with a much kinder expression on his face. "Wayne, if it's all right with you, I'd like to speak to you in private." When the boy nodded, Carl asked the guards to escort the others back to their rooms.
"Wayne, you do remember that we told you we can read minds when we brought you here?" Carl asked.
"Yeah?" the boy asked with a hint of defensiveness in his voice.
"That wasn't a lie. We read everything; we know about what worries you the most." The boy started bristling for an attack, but Carl simply held up a hand to stall him a moment. "Wayne, we don't care. Fuck, dude! I have three wives that are all bisexual. It's no big deal here. You remember that pretty woman that did your evaluation? She's married to a woman. I also know you're worried about becoming a 'fag'. Dude, you're fifteen; you're going to be curious! Here, you can be yourself, and no one will judge you. In fact, if you have questions or just feel like you need someone to talk to, I'm sure either Tabitha or Bree would be happy to help, or recommend someone that can. Hell, it might even help to talk to your mother about it, since she is bi as well. No one here is embarrassed about their sexuality, except for the other recruits."
"My mother? We are talking about the same Rebecca Anderson here, right? The same bitch that has never spoken more than three words to me in her life, and those I could barely hear. I think you're barking up the wrong flag pole with that one," Wayne said. "She doesn't care about me, never has, never will."
"Try it. I think you'll be surprised. Let's try this: after your training tomorrow, why don't you bring your mother to my office. I think you might gain some insight into why your mother is the way she is," Carl suggested.
"Okay, but I think you're wrong about this. You might have been right about my being a fag, but you're way off base on her."
"You're not a fag. A fag is a British cigarette, and you honestly don't know if you like boys or not, since you've never been with one. As I said, don't worry about it; it'll all work itself out. Now, I have another report to read before I can get to bed tonight, so would it be okay to finish this tomorrow in my office?" Carl asked.
"Sure, I need to do some thinking anyway," Wayne said. "You really don't care if I'm a rump ranger?"
Carl chuckled; "One of my wives loves anal sex. So, I guess by your definition, I'm one too. Good night, Wayne."
The next afternoon, as requested, Wayne and Rebecca came to Carl's office. Wayne looked kind of confused but in better spirits than he was when he arrived at the base. "You know Carl, I never did find out what you do around here. Since you're up here on the Admin level, you have to be some kind of department head, but what department, recruiting?"
"Well, that's part of my job here, so in a way, you could say I was in charge of that area," Carl replied. "Did you get a chance to think about what we talked about last night?"
Glancing sideways at his mother, Wayne said, "Uh, yeah. I spoke to Brianna, Tabitha and a couple of others they introduced me to at lunch. There sure are a lot of girls in this place."
"Yeah, I've noticed that too. Believe me; it's not intentional." Carl took note of how Rebecca was acting; standing quietly just inside the door with her head bowed.
"Let's sit out on the deck, I've been stuck in here all day," Carl said as he motioned the pair out to patio. "Rebecca, your son and I have been having a discussion about sexuality. He had a few questions that I didn't have the knowledge, or experience, to answer. I was hoping you could possibly answer some of his questions."
"Of course, sir," the woman said. She was getting excited again, knowing that somehow her true nature was going to be exposed to her son. It embarrassed her, therefore it excited her. She didn't have much experience with bondage, but the domination side really got her motor running. Arthur had been good at humiliation and degradation, but in his case he had meant it to hurt her, which hadn't excited her in the slightest.
"I don't know if Brianna told you about her situation, so I don't know if you have any knowledge of this, but your mother is very submissive. She likes to be dominated by a strong person. Which is how she ended up with your father; he has a strong personality. However, in that type of relationship, it is absolutely imperative that love be the guiding factor, not the desire to abuse someone," Carl explained.
"That doesn't make any sense; she likes to be treated badly, but not by a person that likes to treat her badly?" Wayne asked. "I don't get it."
"Let me try to explain it this way, what is the better reason for doing something to someone: because you enjoy it, or because they do?" Carl asked.
"Well, if you like the person, you'd do it because of that, but if you didn't like them, you'd treat them badly anyway," Wayne said.
"Sir, may I try?" Rebecca asked, which Carl thought might have been a first for her.
Carl simply nodded permission, and she turned to her son. "Wayne, if you knew a girl liked to have her shoulders rubbed, and you cared about her, would you do that for her?"
Wayne still looked confused, but answered, "Sure, if she wanted me to."
"How would you know if she wanted you to?" Rebecca asked.
"I guess I'd either ask her, or she would tell me. Sometimes though, girls only hint at what they want. It's pretty confusing," Wayne said.
"We can talk about that later, but now let me ask you this, if you didn't like the girl, would you rub her shoulders, even if she asked you to?"
"Probably not; I mean, why should I?" Wayne said.
Rebecca grinned; "What if you really liked to rub shoulders, or by doing as she wanted, you could rub too hard and bruise her? Would you do it then?"
Wayne thought about it for a minute, but then shook his head. "No, getting revenge like that just doesn't work. It's better to just ignore her, and sooner or later, she'll go away."
"So then if you knew a girl you liked, really liked to be humiliated, embarrassed or degraded a little bit, or liked to be treated like a slave, would you do it for her?" Rebecca asked.
Wayne was very thoughtful for a long time. Carl got up to get them some drinks and returned to the table with an ice-cold can of soda for each of them.
Finally, after Carl had sat back down, Wayne spoke, looking at his mother. "So you like to be treated like a slave?"
"Yes. But there has to be love and respect involved or it is just abuse — which I don't enjoy," Rebecca answered.
"If you like to be treated as a slave, how can... uh, your master? Treat you with love and respect?" Wayne asked.
Rebecca nodded, "Yes, the dominant is called either 'Master' or "Mistress", depending on the gender."
Carl interrupted her then, "Wayne, you ate lunch with Bree and Tabby, right?" When the boy nodded, he continued, "Did you notice how Bree treated Tabitha?"
"Well, I know they're lovers, but other than that, I saw nothing really unusual about it," Wayne answered.
"Tabitha is Brianna's slave. Actually they describe it as she is a body slave, which means she is a sex slave to Brianna," Carl explained. "But Brianna loves her, so she does humiliate her, and treat her like a slave, but its Brianna's responsibility to know where the limits are for Tabitha. Your mother and you can talk it over more after you get a chance to think about it for a while. I'd also recommend talking to Brianna about this."
Carl turned to Rebecca; "I can feel you're attracted to me, but I cannot be your Master. I'm sorry. However, I'm afraid I may increase your discomfort by asking you a direct question your son needs to hear the answer to."
"It's alright, sir. I understand; there are so many strong personalities here, I'm soaked most of the time anyway," she said blushing darkly.
Wayne looked shocked, but Carl chuckled. "Rebecca, are you bisexual?"
"Yes, though I seem to prefer men to women, but I do enjoy a softer hand every now and then," Rebecca answered. Though she was still blushing, she sounded almost proud of finally acknowledging who and what she was.
"So you don't have a problem with people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or straight?" Carl asked.
"None whatsoever. I've always thought society's concept of what was 'moral' was always off. After all, who can tell someone else who they can love? What gives them that right?" Rebecca said almost fiercely.
"So, you don't think a man that likes other men is strange?" Carl asked.
"Well, some of them act pretty outrageously, but no, why should I? It's none of my business who they chose to love," she answered.
Carl looked at Wayne, who was looking at his mother like he had just met her. In a way, he had. "Do you think you can take it from here, Wayne?"
"Uh, y... yeah, thanks Carl," he said. "Come on, Mom, we have a few things to talk about."
On hearing Wayne call her 'Mom', Rebecca beamed a smile at Carl that made the whole thing worth it. She was getting her family back again.
"Father?" Carl called.
"Yes, Highness?" Father said as he materialized in Carl's office.
Carl organized his thoughts. "One of the reports I read said that the initial survey of this system found metasynth readings on Mars, Ganymede, and Titan. Why didn't the Illuminati have bases there?"
"They did. They were small, about twice the size of this one, or about a third the size of the one in Egypt — according to reports," Father replied.
"Doesn't help me much, but if they had bases there, don't they have transporters like what we used to get here from Wally's?"
"After a fashion, yes they do. Those transporters take a greater amount of power, and are built a bit differently then the one you used. The only transporter on this planet capable of connecting to them is the one at the main facility in Egypt," Father said.
Carl looked thoughtful. "The main facility in Egypt. You said earlier that we couldn't visit it or transport to it because it wasn't shielded. However, you also said naturally occurring metasynth in the form of ley lines masks our abilities. Wasn't Egypt the main facility for the collection and transmission of metasynth energy?"
Father looked thoughtful, "That is correct, Highness. May I ask why you are asking these questions?"
"Certainly, but first I need to make a call." Carl picked up the phone and asked security services to have a squad ready for a special mission tomorrow morning. He turned back to the A.I. "We will be sending an exploratory team to the Egyptian facility in the morning. I don't believe the transport will be noticed because all the naturally occurring metesynth directed at the facility will mask the team's presence. Once we activate the base, we can use the transporter to get to the other, off-world, facilities."
Father's face was awed as he looked at Carl. "I wonder why I didn't think of that. It's so simple. The Antioch should only be watching Earth since it is the only inhabited planet. If we kept the metasynth signature low enough, or figured out how your sisters are shielding their use, we could even build smaller ships!"
"That's assuming those facilities still have oxygen and haven't been damaged," Carl said.
A slight shimmering announced the arrival of the base A.I. Tailon. "Highness, if I may?" At Carl's nod, she continued. "The three extra-planetary A.I. are still functional and sane as of the last report sent to the main facility two hundred of your years ago."
Tailon had been working with the new occupants of the base since they arrived, but seemed to avoid direct interaction with Carl, which is why Carl always asked for Father when he needed an A.I. Her appearance without being requested was a first for her.
"Thank you, Tailon," Carl said, trying to sound encouraging. "How often do you all have to report your status to the main facility?"
"Every two-hundred and fifty years, Highness. If you wish, I can send a message announcing your... ascension to the rest of the facilities," she said.
"That would be excellent, thank you. But I do have a question for you first, Tailon," Carl said.
"Yes Highness?"
"Why do you seem to be avoiding me?" Carl asked. "It almost feels like you don't like me,"
Tailon looked a little embarrassed. "Uh, No Highness, I like you well enough. It's just difficult for me to see you as the Emperor. You're human, not Illuminati. Our base programming doesn't allow for that, so while I can accept it logically, my programming is fighting it."
"I can understand that. I think my base programming is fighting it too." Both Tailon and Father grinned at him. "Would it be easier for you, and quite possibly the other A.I.'s, if you referred to me by a lesser title? Hell, I wouldn't mind if you just called me 'the guy to blame when something goes wrong'."
"We have a title for that, sir," Tailon said. "Emperor. I can see you will be a good Emperor as well, but I'll still have to fight my programming. For now, would it be alright to address you simply as 'Commander'?"
"That would be just fine, Tailon. Do you think the other A.I.'s would accept me with that title as well?" Carl asked.
"Yes, they would accept 'Commander' long before they would accept 'Emperor' unless or until Sol changes our core programming."
"Sol?" Carl asked.
"Yes sir, Sol is the A.I at the main facility. Only she has the necessary authority to alter the programming on all lesser A.I.'s in the system," Tailon said.
"I guess we'll need to pay her a little visit tomorrow, and introduce ourselves," Carl said.
"Sir, I think you should know, if she doesn't accept you, she will kill you and probably instruct me to sterilize the base. I will have to follow her orders, or she will erase me and do it herself," Tailon said.
"I can't see her, or any of you, just ending someone's life without all the facts. I'm sure she'll listen to us," Carl said confidently.
"That's an assumption you shouldn't be making sir. The last of her knowledge has humans listed as barbarians that cannot be allowed Illuminati technology. The only thing that kept me from killing you when I found out who you were was Father. He was strong enough to suspend those subroutines long enough for me to learn the whole of the situation. He will not be able to do so with Sol. She is a much more powerful... uh, machine," Tailon said while Father nodded in agreement.
"So you're both telling me there is about a fifty-fifty chance she'll kill us as soon as we arrive at the base in Egypt?" Carl asked.
"Yes sir, that's what we are telling you," Father said.